City Considers Rehab of Community Center: Looking For Ways to Increase Use

By Gordon HopkinsThe Fairbury Public Works Committee met on Tuesday, April 19, to discuss a possible rehab of the Community Center, located in the Fairbury City Park. The conversation turned into a wider discussion about how to better use the building.“The administrator (City Administrator Robert Messbarger) was approached about some deficiency at the rehab center asked me to look into upgrades, efficiency, increased usage,” said Planning and Zoning Administrator Laura Bedlan. “I've looked into it just locally, just got some local ballpark estimates. And it was roughly $80,000 for the things that we were looking at.”Bedlan said she was also looking into grants for funding, “So we then took it and applied for an AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) grant to make just the basic improvements, mostly flooring was the biggest issue. We will hear back from that on June 29.”The Community Center building houses the Fairbury Senior Center. Bedlan noted, “AARP is more for the retirement community members specifically.”There is also a possible Peter Kiewit Foundation grant. Bedlan said, “But Kiewit would like to see it as a community building. And they want a lot of community involvement. And they want a lot of community input and backing, specifically financial backing, along with community support. So as part of the AARP grant, we talked to the schools, and some of the local organizations and civic organizations about working with senior diners. They're willing to do that. So, we can show some community involvement. We need more for the Kiewit grant. And we would need to probably have some discussion with some of the local businesses and civic organizations about maybe contributing.”Brian Schmidt, who is on both the Public Works Committee and the City Council, said, “Well, yeah, I'm definitely interested in whatever we can do to make it more usable.”Phil Rogge, also with both Public Works and City Council, agreed, “We should be able to have Kiwanis down there, Optimists (Club) down there. You know, I mean, that'd be a great place for those organizations to meet.”A primary concern is the gym floor.“It's an opportunity to open up that space if we can allow street shoes on that floor, but we don't want to damage the floor. That's always been an issue,” said Bedlan, who indicated they are looking into different options for movable floor coverings to protect the gym floor.Another issue is letting more people know about the center. Rogge said, “Right now, we don’t market it.”No action was taken at the meeting but the committee indicated their support for Bedlan to continue to look into ways to improve the Community Center.

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