Expansion on horizon for Civic Center
The Civic Center could be seeing some changes – about 4,000 square feet of them and more – after a committee approved a request for expansion last week.
Proposed is to add 3,000 square feet to the weight room as well as 1,000 square feet of storage space near the rear entrance of the building in an effort to improve services and free up various areas in the Civic Center.
Both of those proposed expansions would be physical expansions to the building that would ideally improve services and free up other space for a limited child care service, officials said after gaining preliminary approval from members of the Parks and Recreation Committee Thursday.
Costs of materials for the expansion and related changes, with most labor expected to be performed by city employees, was estimated at around $70,000. Officials also gave a preliminary nod to an estimated $160,000 roof repair at the Civic Center and about $20,000 for other maintenance items, making the request total about $250,000.
If given final approval, plans are for the aerobics program to be moved from its current location on the building’s first floor to the north balcony of the second floor.
The proposal also called for a new racquetball court to be built on the west balcony of the second floor. The west balcony currently stores staging materials, which would be moved into the proposed new storage area located at the rear entrance of the Civic Center. The rooms currently used for aerobics would become meeting rooms and one would be used for a limited child care service being called “Tot Watch.”
Aside from the sizable amount of money needed for the 20-year-old roof replacement, officials also indicated other they would like to purchase new playground equipment for Riverfront Park, noting that equipment is almost 20 years old, as well as to purchase new tables and chairs and a mower. Officials also want to dedicate $5,000 to improving Rocket Park.
As in year’s past, the proposal will most likely need formal approval of members of the Finance Committee and Board of Mayor of Aldermen before becoming reality. The Parks and Recreation Committee was the first public budget session held to address budget issues for the city’s 2004-2005 fiscal year.
Brown said majority of the Parks and Recreation Department’s requests are specifically related to maintenance issues due to the age of the facility and equipment, but she also noted the improvements are things people have been asking about for years.
“The other issues – the racquetball court, storage, addition to the weight room and relocating aerobics and renovating the rooms and creating a Tot Watch service for our community – have all been needs that the increased usage of the facility has proven would be used by people who actually come here on a daily basis,” she said.
“Of all those things, the one that we get the most request for is Tot Watch and that service would accommodate men, women and grandparents who have to supervise small children,” she added. “All these improvements we have asked for in this budget meeting, they offset other needs.”
On the grow
If approved, Civic Center improvements would include an additional 3,000 square feet to the existing weight room, 1,000 square foot of storage, repairing the roof, moving the aerobics classes to the second floor and the addition of a new racquetball court on the second floor. The total amount would be approximately $250,000 for the Civic Center.