By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
NEWPORT — The groundwork is in place for discussion on the proposed new Community Center for Newport at Tuesday’s upcoming Deliberative Session at the Town Hall starting at 6 p.m.
A preview of plans for the $6,500,000 undertaking were aired at a public session attended by about a dozen people Monday night at Newport High School hosted by the Community Center Committee.
Although some new facts were revealed during the two-hour meeting, much of the information discussed Monday night had been aired at earlier meetings.
The new Community Center will be nearly double the size of the current center on Belknap Avenue, a 90-year old structure that needs a new roof and lacks room for many programs.
The new Center to be located on Meadow Road across from the Newport High School baseball field and former high school football field will feature 19,720 square feet. The current Community Center covers approximately 10,000 square feet, according to Todd Fratzel, a member of the committee.
The proposed new Community Center will be adjacent to the Newport Little League Field that has been turned around to make room for the Center.
Also on the site are two buildings, one housing an ambulance and the other utilized by the town of Newport for equipment storage. Both of these structures will be torn down.
The current Community Center on Belknap Avenue will be demolished and a new building featuring six bays erected on the same site for the ambulance equipment and other town equipment, some of which is used for mowing and is stored in the smaller building at the old Newport Highway Department.
At the conclusion of Monday’s meeting Newport Town Manager Hunter Rieseberg spoke of the importance of having an updated Community Center in Newport.
“”It’s a place for the community to gather and a hub of activity. The present Community Center is really bursting at the seams but we’re making the most of it.
“We’re trying to grow the community. This is one of the ways we can make our community more presentable and more people will come here. This will go a long way to bring people to Newport and a good way to say…look at us…come here and join us and have a good family life.”
Rieseberg reminded the audience that included four members of the Community Center Committee that anything you don’t do will cost more in the future. “I can’t think of a single thing we can do for our community that will move our community faster.
“It’s on us to raise $3 million,” he concluded. Rieseberg said the current financial drive stands at $1.5 million and that includes $1 million that has been pledged if Newport can raise $2 million to match it.
Rieseberg said about a dozen large donors are waiting to see what happens at the annual Town Meeting vote scheduled for 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14 in the Town Hall. “Let’s see what you do at town meeting,” he concluded.
Throughout Monday’s meeting, John Dale of a representative of BreadLoaf, the architectural firm based in Middlebury, Vt., explained the design work done by that firm in detail.
The basketball court is regulation high school size and will seat 500.
Fratzel reviewed cost plans for the proposed Community Center. The $3 million must be raised through donations and grants before the project can be started. Should voters approve the project on May 14, the initial bond payment would not be due until 2021. Based on an estimate of 4 percent interest, Fratzel said that initial payment would add 72 cents to the Newport tax rate and then it would go down each year for the duration of the bond payment schedule.
When asked, Dole said delaying the project by one year could amount to an increase of 5-6 percent. “It’s hard to predict,” he revealed.
Fratzel said it costs the current Community Center approximately $13,000 annually for heat, electricity, water and sewer. The projected figure for the new Community Center was pegged at $22,500.
He also said the number of paid employees would not increase from the current amount at the Belknap Avenue Community Center. The Board of Selectmen and Town Manager are committed to not increasing staff, Fratzel said.
The present Center is in operation for approximately 76 hours each week and other buildings are used including the gym at Richards School and Wheeler Gym.
Becky Merrow explained “a day in the life of the recreation department.” During her presentation she said there is not enough room to conduct many programs. “The building is cranked to capacity,” she emphasized.
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