Building could be used to house recreation, RSVP and provide gym for parish sports
A long-awaited community center could finally be on the horizon for St. Charles Parish, and the best part is, the center would be constructed using a Community Development Block Grant.
The administration introduced the idea to members of the council at Monday night’s Construction Management Committee meeting. A blueprint that the parish is considering would include a gym, offices, large meeting rooms, a concession stand, a kitchen, showers and restrooms.
The building could also be constructed to withstand 150 mile per hour winds, and because it can hold 1,000 people, would come in handy as a temporary shelter after storms.
However, Parish President V.J. St. Pierre said that the parish does not have a final design in place and would like input from both council members and residents.
The total project cost for the building would be around $4.3 million and would take two or three years to complete. Since the building would qualify for $4.8 million in funding due to the Gustav/Ike Disaster Recovery program, the parish would still have around $500,000 left over to make any changes to the building.
Grants Officer Holly Fonseca said the parish would also save on operating costs on the center because the parish could house both the recreation department and RSVP there.
The parish currently pays $21,000 a year to keep those two departments in offices with the school system.
The center would be built on a piece of land on Sugarland Parkway donated by the Esperanza Land Co. and St. Pierre said that the parish would have to act relatively quickly on the project to secure the disaster recovery funding.
Many residents have asked for a community center for years and Fonseca said that the gym would be an important part of the center.
Since the parish does not own a gym, and must use the ones located at the schools, they are sometimes faced with scheduling conflicts when it comes to youth sports.
St. Pierre also said that the building could be used to host government functions or would be rented out to members of the public for special events.
St. Pierre said that right now, it’s a shame that the parish does not have a big enough building to host important town hall meetings.
Councilman Dennis Nuss did have questions about the building being used as a shelter after a storm and asked how it would be decided what residents would get to stay at the building.
Fonseca said that it would be based on a first come, first serve basis, though she didn’t think the building would run out of space, saying that the parish wouldn’t allow re-entry if 1,000 people couldn’t return to their homes.
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