Galesburg Council reviews 4 Community Center options. Here’s what they have to offer

Galesburg Council heard a presentation on Monday that showed sketches of what a community center could look like at four different sites, as well as what each would cost.

Caius Jennison with Farnsworth Group presented his findings after studying Churchill Junior High, the Hawthorn Pool/Gym Facility, the current Galesburg Public Library, and Gunther Construction.

Jennison met with each Council member before the study, allowing them to talk about their priorities for a community center.

From there he distilled that into a template, as a model to test against different potential sites.

That model included 11,000 sq. ft of community space including a reception and resource center, two classrooms, a teaching kitchen, a teen center, a computer lab, office space, and storage.

It also includes an event room that could fit 200 people and a single-court gym.

A community room that could fit about 200 people, and a single basketball court gym is also part of the model.

The Gunther site is the most expensive, mainly because it would mean all new construction. But it’s also the most centrally located, and holds the most flexibility.

It’s just to the east of the Discovery Depot and is accessed from Mulberry St.

The existing library also is instantly recognizable to the public. Jennison says there is ample space and all the building’s space wouldn’t even be used.

Renovation to the library would mean a lot of tearing out walls and putting plumbing in. The issues with the library are low ceilings, inadequate parking, and no possibility of a gym.

Hawthorne has an existing gym and pool, and they examined what it would take to add on a community center. One of the main sticking points is it’s not centrally located and the city would likely need to figure out some sort of transportation program.

Then there’s Churchill Junior High. The city owned-building is 90,000 sq. ft and the community center model is less than a quarter that.

Farnsworth says that Churchill doesn’t need a lot of remodeling but there are lots of expensive repairs needed like a new boiler and new roof.

The overall costs of each renovation are as follows; $8.17 million for the Gunther site, $6 million for Churchill, $5.9 million for Hawthorn, and $4.9 for the library.

The council is going to consider the information they received and is expected to indicate the site they would like to pursue by the end of the week.

 

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