Sports Arena Project
Published 2:47 pm Tuesday, July 29, 2014
FARMVILLE — Town council has approved a first phase renovation of the Firemen’s Sports Arena, which will be used by the Town for fun and games, but also emergency purposes.
Town council has discussed eventually relocating its summer recreation program activities to the facility and its 20 acres that include a baseball field built by the Town for the fire department. The arena, itself, is capable of seating 500.
The property’s proximity to the public schools complex is viewed by Town officials as a huge plus, in terms of access.
But the Town also received grant funds to install the necessary technology to use the facility as an emergency shelter.
Town manager Gerald Spates noted the town received funding for a power hook-up for a generator “so if we have a power failure we could put a generator out there and hook it up…You could use it in the event of an emergency as an emergency shelter.”
Renovations in the first phase include a new roof, new ceiling, replacing the building’s canopy and lights in the parking lot.
Spates said the canopy is leaking water inside the building, making replacement rather urgent.
The Town has sufficient funds for this first phase of work, having received a $75,000 grant from the Centra Foundation, $50,000 in insurance money and $22,000 from the sale of timber.
The renovations were recommended by council’s recreation committee.
“It’s basically what we submitted to Centra as a package for a grant and we broke down all the different aspects of the renovation, what we want to do at the Sports Arena,” Spates told council members this month.
“The committee has recommended to council that we go ahead and do a portion of these repairs…We would like to go ahead and proceed. We do have a contractor coming to do the roof, which is the very first thing that needs to be done before we renovate,” the town manager advised them.
Speaking of other work needed to refurbish the building, donated to the Town in 2013 by the Firemen’s Sports Arena, Inc., Spates continued looking toward grant monies.
“Hopefully we’ll get some additional funds to finish it up,” he said.
The motion to proceed was made by Ward D council member Donald L. Hunter and seconded by Sally Thompson, of Ward B. The vote was unanimous.
The sports arena was built primarily as a fundraiser for the fire department, which once held dances there several times a month.
The donation was a three or four-year process that resulted in the property being deeded over to the Town last year.
“In the long-run,” Spates said when the property was donated, “this is going to be a tremendous asset for the town.”