No progress on reopening shuttered neighborhood center

No progress on reopening shuttered neighborhood center

Council still putting ducks in a row for renovations

news@theeveningtimes.com

West Memphis City Council has agreed on the “what” and the provided means for the “how,” but some council members have grown impatient waiting for “when” the revival of the Roberta Jackson Neighborhood Center will begin.

In a recent pre-council meeting work session councilors got an updated status on quote collections. As the discussion spilled over into council chambers councilman Marco McClendon took a verbal swipe at the budget committee chairman charged with collecting quotes, Tracy Catt.

“I don’t understand why nothing has been done at the neighborhood center,” said McClendon.

“I’ve done everything city council has asked me to do,” replied Catt. “And I can’t do anymore more than that.”

As the neighborhood center was being set with polling equipment for November 2014 election, officials took note of the dilapidated condition of the vandalized building, prompting the city council to change the locks and adopt a stronger key control policy. Continued vandalism and worsening conditions led city council to order the center closed in June 2015 for health and safety reasons. The building was immediately boarded up; it has been shuttered ever since.

Catt was tasked with getting bids to fix the building up.

City Council was invited to tour the center in March after it allocated Community Development Block Grant funds to remodel the building. Councilors thought the safety and health concerns it once held could be remedied with some remodeling, but, to date, no one in the city administration or the legislative body has initiated an effort to get construction work started.

It was Councilman Willis Mondy that asked for the update during the work session after councilman Wayne Croom passed out quotes for roof repair — two offers completed at nearly the same cost.

“I’m waiting for a third quote this week,” said Croom.

“An engineer has looked at it and said it was sound,” said Catt. “He didn’t see any foundation issues.

There is a place where we need to saw it out and put in an expansion joint in a wall. The exterior block wall has settled over time.

We do not have a cost for that.”

Mondy put out an urgent

plea. “We used to have a committee

over it when I first got here over 10 years ago,” said Mondy. “We

don’t have one, but we need one. We need to get it open — I want to say tomorrow.”

By John Rech