As was the case with a liquor store, a library and a corner bar, 56572 must now be one of the largest towns around without a community center. Air was pumped into the idea of building one about ten years ago and much ink was granted by the Peterson Brothers to an idea that never got very far off the ground.
That was then and this is now.
What about the idea of giving a multi-purpose community center in the old PRFD Firehall a chance, say for a year or two. Buy a bunch of eight foot tables and a bunch of chairs for meetings, dinners, parties and fundraisers. Put on online by-the-hour schedule of when the Community Center is available on the City website, next to the rules and conditions of rental, the rental costs per hour and an online credit card payment system so the City is paid when the reservation is made.
Townships, who according to the Mayor, have some investment in the building, might enjoy discounted possibly even free rent for their meetings and events. Teens who might want to rent the space on a regular basis and volunteer their time for custodial duties in return for rent might be afforded the same benefit.
We're not asking for a Bigwood Center, a Holmes Center or a PACC, but as a community we do need a place to gather apart from a school, a church or a library.
The City Council, with the help of the Thompson Family, did a commendable job with Old City Hall, restoring it to one of the nicer buildings in town. Give us an encore with the Old PRFD. You don't need spend a fortune on renovations. You don't need to table the decision from meeting to meeting.
We all paid for it. Let us all use it, say, maybe by Mardi Gras? OK, summer?
1 hour ago
6 comments:
The biggest question we must ask is if the old firehall is big enough. It really doesn't have that much space inside of it.
Love it!
Let's go for it -- THIS IS A GREAT IDEA WITH CONTROLLED ASSOCIATED COSTS!!
It's responsible recycling -- nice work, Mr. Christianson.
It's time that this town start to invest in something better for a community center than old fire hall. We're always so worried about controlled associated costs that the community shorts itself in the end---its been like this for years.
In this weeks Press, Scott Fox comments on how he knows of two instances where we have tried and failed with a teen center. For the life of me I can't recall these teen centers. Can anyone tell me when/where these were? Thanks, Nanette Albright
A teen center was once located in the white building (was it Johnson furniture's warehouse?) near Vi's Drive Inn. That would have been about 30 years ago. Previously, the building had been used by the school district as classrooms for first graders. Thats the only space that I remember being used as a teen center.
There use to be a teen center in the basement of the rapids building about 15 or so years ago.
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