The Fourth & Gill
Neighborhood Center
As you may or may not know, the current situation with the 4th and Gill Neighborhood Center is untenable for the following reasons:
-the board has been forced to lean heavily on one individual volunteer to physically maintain the center (not viable for long-term care)
-there is currently nobody to regularly act as a landlord (i.e. collect rent) with businesses renting space at the Center while the City has been paying our utilities for years, that will change in July and we will be paying approximately $300/month
-There may or may not be some serious structural issues with the Center (we are in the process of having a professional inspection done)
To remedy the situation we have formed the 4th and Gill Neighborhood Center Task Force. The Task Force is composed of one non-Board member and five 4th and Gill Board members. The purpose of the Task Force is to assess the situation and come up with a recommendation (with regard to the Neighborhood Center’s fate) for the Neighborhood Board. The basic ideas that are being tossed around at this point are as follows:
1. Sell the Center and use the profit to better the neighborhood in any number of ways (i.e. sidewalk repair, decorative street lamps, a new neighborhood center in or near one of our parks)
2. Refurbish the Center and rent out the available space to any business that wants to pay market prices. Have an organized volunteer effort (or pay a management fee) for rent collection and maintenance.
3. Refurbish the Center and rent out affordable space as a small/independent business incubator, thereby spurring economic development.
4. Refurbish the Center and rent out to other non-profits who need an affordable place to locate a business
5. Refurbish the Center and don’t rent it out, making it a community center that serves many needs of the community
6. Refurbish the Center, don’t rent half (leaving it for a community center) and rent the other half to pay for the center
WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU LIKE ANY ONE OR A COMBINATION OF THE IDEAS ABOVE? Please write your thoughts on the back of this sheet and leave in the mailbox of Barbara Simpson at 1302 Luttrell Street. Also, you could post your thoughts on the web (and discuss the issue) with other residents) by clicking here. In addition to these methods of receiving the neighborhood’s input, we plan on having two public meetings where residents will be invited to discuss the topic, and we will also hold a paper vote within the neighborhood to see where the neighborhood stands before we make our recommendation to the Board.
Your Neighborhood Task Force is composed of the following members: Bill Murrah (Co-chair), Jonathan Wimmer (Co-chair), Carol Nickle, Patrick McInturff, Barbara Simpson and Bill Pittman
