Perhaps the ongoing spin could be called the “Merrill-go-round.”
The latest twirl in the story occurred Tuesday when the Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation Commission — in a called, special “emergency” meeting — voted 4-3 against requesting the city council to approve a $433,132 budget on a proposed renovation of the Merrill Community Center at 1000 South Ash Street. The facility is primarily used by neighborhood youngsters.
Commissioners Chris Blunt, Kami Hunt, Jeff Pulliam and Roy Tolson opposed the motion, which was favored by Commissioners Fabian Fontenot, Jonathan Frazier and Krandon Henry. Commissioners Duke Fakouri and Carson Fields were absent.
Fontenot pushed for the proposal’s adoption, saying the children who frequent the center “need something now” as the facility is in “critical need” of assorted improvements.
Fontenot chaired an Aug. 1 meeting of the commission’s maintenance committee, which includes Frazier and Henry. The committee unanimously endorsed local architect Fred Reed’s work scope on the Merrill project. The committee forwarded the matter onto the full commission with a do-pass recommendation.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
On Tuesday, Blunt said he would prefer that the current center be demolished and a new one constructed at the site
“We can build a new building for what we would be spending (on renovations),” Blunt said. “I’m opposed to remodeling.”
Hunt also stated disfavor with saving the current structure, opting instead for utilizing the Pine Bluff School District’s partially closed Greenville Elementary building. However, Fontenot and Parks and Recreation Department Director Angela Parker said they understand the district’s offer for the city’s use of Greenville is limited only to the actual time Merrill might be closed for an overhaul, a point on which Hunt requested clarification.
“We need to solve this problem right now,” said Frazier, who estimated that some commissioners might be looking too far into the future toward completion of a proposed multipurpose community center, a goal of the 2011 voter-approved bond issue that may not occur during the present decade.
Blunt differed with Frazier, saying, “We’re cheating ourselves” with the current restoration plan. Blunt drew support from Pulliam, who — after being told that additional sales-tax reserve funds could be available — suggested that if $433,000 is already accessible, “another half-a-million can build a new building.”
Fontenot discounted Pulliam’s figuring, saying a million dollars “isn’t much” in current construction pricing.
Tolson, who said he questioned the long-range validity of a Merrill update, stated that he had received only one public comment on the issue — an opinion that Merrill should be razed.
Frazier indicated his frustration with the new construction talk, saying, “We’re dealing with solutions” and pointing out that a motion had been made for a vote. Frazier said that once a decision was made, “We can come back to another proposal.”
Fontenot noted that the motion was for approval of a project budget only, not a work order. The council would have to approve a final job package before actual labor could proceed.
In June, a resolution seeking the authorization of a $450,000 appropriation toward the Merrill enhancements was removed from the agenda of a city council meeting by its sponsor, Alderman Steven Mays. Mays pulled the proposal at the request of several of his fellow council members so that an option of permanently housing a community center in the Greenville Elementary building could be explored.
Aldermen Glen Brown and George Stepps and Alderwoman Thelma Walker said a discussion on the matter with the school board should be held before progressing with Merrill’s renovations. Stepps said at the time that he was also interested in some other school buildings that might be available for city use.
The district had told the city that it can utilize Greenville while repairs are underway at the Merrill Center, with the city receiving free rent whenever classes are in session but having to pay $6,000 a month otherwise.
The authorization resolution had previously been recommended for adoption by the council’s public works committee, with nods from Mays and senior Alderman Bill Brumett. Stepps, the remaining committee member, was absent at the time of the panel’s vote.
Afterward, some parks and recreation commissioners asked that the matter be referred back to that body for its consideration. The panel had recently been expanded.
Brown, Stepps and Walker have been Mayor Debe Hollingsworth’s most vocal foes in her continuing efforts to renovate the Merrill Center, initiated soon after she took office on Jan. 1. The three council members have steadfastly opposed repair of the facility in favor of new construction.