About two dozen concerned citizens showed up to a public input meeting Wednesday evening at the Community Center to throw out their ideas about the construction of a multi-use pavilion that is to be built adjacent to the old McBrien School.
Most of the citizens attending were nearby residents who may be affected by having public gatherings at the facilities.
“It’s going to affect the peace and quiet of the area, I’m here to tell you,” said Sandra Lepley, who lives across the street on Tombras Avenue.
Lepley, who has lived in the area for decades, said that she remembers when little league baseball games were played on fields surrounding the East Ridge Town Hall. She said that lights from the fields, which remained on long after the games were over, were a nuisance and affected quality of life in the neighborhood.
City officials proposed the construction of a pavilion on several acres behind City Hall last year. The pavilion would be one part of a “Town Center,” which would include rehabilitation of Pioneer Frontier playground and the addition of a new splash pad. The architectural firm of Hefferlin and Kronenberg were hired to produce a masterplan of how a new public area could work. That included a community input meeting to gather ideas from citizens about their desires for such a facility.
City Manager Scott Miller said the city has allocated $1.5 million for the construction of the pavilion. Other “soft costs,” which would include architects and engineers, may bring to the total cost of the project up to $2 million. Financing for the project would come from Border Region state tax money the city is receiving.
Heidi Hefferlin, a principal in the architectural firm of HK, provided an overview of how the new area could be laid out to provide for traffic, parking, the specific location of the pavilion, and buffering to adjacent residential areas.
“This is your community and we want you to tell us,” Hefferlin said.
Those attending the meeting were invited to tables set up with drawings of the entire City Hall area, encompassing City Hall, the playground, a field where the pavilion is proposed to be located, McBrien School and the Fire and Police Services Center. Citizens then began interacting with architects and city officials giving them information on their desires.
The consensus of citizens at one of the tables was that the McBrien School needed to be razed and that the pavilion should be situated closer to the Fire and Police Service Center where noise and lighting would have a lesser effect on the houses on East Ridge and Tombras Avenues.
City Manager Miller said the cost to raze McBrien School would be between $350,000 and $500,000. The cost to rehabilitate the 60-year-old structure could be as much as $5 million. Miller said the city is currently not in a position to shoulder the burden of costs for either of those projects
Staff of the architectural firm will now review the information from the meeting and come up with a masterplan that would include where the pavilion will be situated, parking for the facility, landscaping and buffering.
The firm will produce a design for the pavilion that would be reviewed by city officials. This would be followed by construction documents and the city would receive bids from contractors.
City officials said they hope to have the project completed by next spring.
