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NEWS DAILY
By Bob Paslay

A total of $150,000 has been included in the federal budget to help the City of Riverdale build a Multi-Purpose Citizens Center, Congressman David Scott said Wednesday.

Once completed in several years the 15,000-square-foot facility would be the first designated gathering for residents. Currently they have to held sessions at the city hall building downtown or turn people away looking for a place to host a group of people.

Scott said the money could be a recurring set of money to help pay for the center. He called getting into the budget the “big hurtle” and he said keeping it in should be easier.

The project was included in the bill funding the U.S. Departments of Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, and other agencies for Fiscal Year 2007.

It has been “such a tight year” that getting any new projects in the budget for funding is a tough task, the congressman said.

“It means a lot for the community and it is good for Riverdale. We are continuing to improve the residential quality” of that area, Scott said.

The site being considered for the new center is right next to the Riverdale City Hall where the city owns some land.

But City Manager Iris Jessie said Wednesday that an on-going livability study that could be completed by December will examine all of these issues and come up with what would best fit into the city’s plans.

Coupled with the money included in the budget by Scott there is another $150,000 federal grant for designing the center and Jessie said the city is hopeful of getting other federal money to go with other sources of money, including some from the city to round out the package.

Decisions about whether it will be a two-story or single-story structure and other issues will be decided in coming months.

“We could be looking at something in a couple of years,” she said. The design phase of the project takes about 12 to 15 months and if the funding is in place then construction could then begin. “What we don’t want to do is build something that by the time it is constructed it is too small. We want a building we can add onto.”

The livability study, the citizens center and any new building are complementing each other.

A new four-story structure is going up across from city hall.

Jessie said with more senior citizens and the price of gas it is going to be nice to plan a complex of facilities that you could walk to.

City officials recently toured Smyrna and looked at their citizens center and the structures that are located nearby to serve the citizens.

Scott said some of the uses of the building would be recreation and after-school programs.

“This worthy project will provide a greater variety of much-needed community resources, including recreation facilities for youth.”