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About $11 million has been pledged to build a major multi-purpose center in Kaufman, Kaufman City Manager Curtis Snow said.
Mr. Snow has been working with major city groups including the chamber of commerce, economic development corporation, the school district, Presbyterian Hospital of Kaufman, Trinity Valley Community College and others to develop the project.
“This is going to be a leading edge facility that’s going to change the whole city of Kaufman,” Mr. Snow said. “It will have a heck of an economic impact.”
Mr. Snow stressed that the project is still in the planning stage and that no decisions have been made.
Original estimates for the facility were about $17 million, but an architect’s conceptual plan estimated it at close to $30 million, Mr. Snow said, more than the participants can afford. But negotiations for additional pledges and grants are ongoing.
Mr. Snow said he believed it would take a major grant from a foundation to get the project underway.
Talking to T. Boone Pickens
Lee Ayres, economic development corporation director, said there have been discussions with the T. Boone Pickens Foundation about a possible grant of as much as $7 million.
That has led to rumors that the center could be built at the now closed Dallas Crown horse slaughterhouse, on Highway 175 on the western edge of downtown.
Mr. Pickens and his wife, Madeleine Pickens, strongly opposed the slaughterhouse, testifying before a Congressional committee to close it. “I think that might be their preferred site,” Mr. Ayres said.
He said no formal grant request had been made, but the foundation has been open to an application.
Mr. Snow would not discuss possible sites, including the slaughterhouse. He said he didn’t want to alert property owners of land under consideration.
The EDC board has reached a consensus to invest as much as $1.75 million in the project, Mr. Ayres said.
The plans
The facility would be a single stop for several services. Plans call for a wellness center sponsored by Presbyterian Hospital of Kaufman. Classrooms for use by Trinity Valley Community College in its nursing program. Performing arts space for the school district, part of a 10,000-square-foot meeting room. A seniors center. Offices for the EDC and chamber and, possibly, an indoor-swimming pool.
Mr. Snow and Mr. Ayres stressed that all plans are preliminary but “I’m 100 percent sure we are going to build something,” Mr. Ayres said.
He said the facility might start with just one or two components and then add others later.
It was projects that couldn’t be built that led to discussions of the facility.
Mr. Snow said city residents were interested in a recreation center, but the city couldn’t afford it. Presbyterian was interested in a wellness center, but found it wasn’t feasible. The Kaufman Foundation was interested in a civic center, but didn’t have the money. And TVCC said it needed space to as much as double the nursing program.
Mr. Snow said he began to wonder if there wasn’t a way to bring all the parties to a single project. Discussions have been quietly underway for more than year.
The need for such a center has been noted throughout the county. Currently, there is no large meeting space, forcing area groups to take major gatherings outside the county. “This would be big enough for the Terrell (chamber) auction or the Forney (chamber) auction,” two of the county’s largest events, Mr. Ayres said.
And Kaufman and other school districts have trouble finding room for school events.
Schools could use the space
“Helen Edwards Primary had a program and had to do it over two nights because they didn’t have room,” said Byron Gregg, Kaufman school board president.
The center would benefit the district’s growing band program and could provide a place for a swim team, he said.
It’s likely that other districts around the county would use the center as well.
The school district agreed on a 4-3 vote in May to support the center with a yearly payment of around $20,000, if it is built.
Mr. Gregg is not as optimistic about the center’s feasibility as Mr. Ayres. He agrees it’s needed but is concerned about the cost. He voted against the district’s qualified commitment of maintenance funds.
But, if it built, “there won’t be anything like this in Kaufman County.”
© Copyright 2005-2007 by Kaufman County Online
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| Last Updated: Aug 13th, 2008 - 22:48:38 |
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