Several events in Davidson in the coming days, including a critical Town Board vote Tuesday, will determine the scope of the proposed joint community recreation center project at Davidson IB Middle School on South Street. Town officials have made no announcements yet, but they’ve been working to assemble the funding that would allow the project to go forward.  

• On Sunday afternoon at 5:30, Davidson United Methodist Church’s Board of Stewards will meet to consider participating in the project. The church’s participation could give the Town a financial partner and help the church deal with a need for additional space. (Monday 9/22 update: The Board of Stewards approved a 20-year lease agreement that would allow the church to share the facility in exchange for a financial contribution to the town project.)
• Davidson’s Town Board will vote at its 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday whether to participate in the $7.6 million project, which would include badly needed renovations at the aging school and construction of a new gymnasium and offices for the town Parks & Recreation Department. The town has been weighing the matter for months, trying to figure out how it might pay its $4 million share of the project. Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has about $3.6 million from a previous bond issue to cover its costs.
• Whether the town votes to move forward or not, a public planning workshop is scheduled Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 24-25, to begin formal site planning. The workshop would invite public input on CMS’s plans, and on the town’s plans, if it decides to join in. (for times and details, see our Sept. 12 preview of the meeting, “Planning workshop Sept. 24-25 for IB school project.”

A yes vote by the town board Tuesday would approve a $4 million budget and authorize the town staff to negotiate a joint-use agreement with CMS and the Methodist Church to build and share the proposed community center.

“We are hopeful to have a vote at Tuesday’s meeting,” Mayor John Woods said Friday. “We are not ready to announce final finals, but we are very hopeful that some additional funds and some funds from additional partners will come into play in the project, which will reduce the amount the town would have to arrange in the form of debt.”

Mayor Woods did not give specifics on the potential funding or partners.

Davidson’s $4 million cost for the project likely would be shared between the town, Mecklenburg County Parks & Recreation (through a bond package on the November ballot) and other community partners, such as the church.

CMS plans to close Davidson IB Middle for the 2009-10 school year for construction, and shift students to a temporary site at a yet to be announced location. Long Creek Elementary School has been discussed as a possible site, though no final decision has been announced. The renovated school would reopen for the 2010-11 year.

[Also at Tuesday’s town board meeting, the board is expected to vote on a revised master plan for the Summer’s Walk development, off N.C. 73. The revisions would clear the way for the county to buy about 90 acres of the property, which would preserve a wetland and provide space for a possible future nature center. (See background in our Sept. 9, 2008, article, “Board delays vote on Summer’s Walk plan changes.”)]

CHURCH EXPANDING

Davidson United Methodist Church, which owns the church and other property between South Main Street and South Street, has been searching for ways to expand.

When the town first began talking publicly about joining the project, church members said publicly that they might be willing to participate in some way, possibly sharing the church parking lot in exchange for a right to use the space for church programs.

The Rev. Jody Seymour, the church’s pastor, told church members in a weekly newsletter out Friday: “Your Strategic Planning Ministry Team has looked at various building expansion possibilities over the past two years. It seems that all of our options have various challenges that come with the location, cost, and total usefulness of the proposed facility. As we were looking at other possibilities, we learned that the City of Davidson is interested in partnering with the IB School, across the street from our property on South Street, to develop a Community Center that would include a renovated auditorium, a new gym, a remodeled cafeteria/multi use room, 5
large meeting rooms, a game room, and an exercise room.”

The Rev. Seymour said the town needs a partner in order to complete the project. “We are looking at this as one option for our total space/use needs,” he wrote.

The church Board of Stewards meets Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary to present information to church members. After a discussion, the Board of Stewards could take a vote on whether to join the project.

The county Parks & Recreation Department has included several north Meck projects in its proposed $250 million bond package on the Nov. 4 ballot. The package would include $1.5 million for Davidson’s community center project.

The parks & rec bond was increased after local leaders pushed the county to include more money for projects in North Meck.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

Sept. 12, 2008, “Planning workshop Sept. 24-25 for IB School project”

Sept. 3, 2008, “Bond package would help fund rec center, other projects”

May 28, 2008, DavidsonNews.net, “Board studies rec center plan, but hurdles remain.”

May 14, 2008, DavidsonNews.net, “Town, CMS consider joint IB school project”