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T’ville civic center finally gets OK for construction After years of talk about renovating the old Thomasville High School to be a civic center and many redrawn and revamped plans, the Thomasville City Council voted Monday to proceed with the project, recently bid at $3.8 million. Over $300,000 in alternatives could trim the price to $3.5 million if needed. That is a far cry from the $5.2 million initial bid but the scale and scope of the project has been trimmed dramatically to reduce the cost. Frasier-Ousley was the low bidder when bids were open recently. Architect Frank Rosa of McKee and Associates said the contractor had a good reputation and would do good work. Debra Wood, chairperson of the Civic Center Task Force, and others said they were pleased with the bid and asked that the project get started. Mayor Sheldon Day noted that the auditorium seating had been reduced from between 700 and 800 to just less than 500. He said the project wasn’t exactly what everyone wanted but was manageable now. The city plans to use bonds to finance the project. Reid Cavnar of Merchants Capital, a bond investment company, said a $3.8 million issue for 30 years would cost the city $235,000 to $240,000 annually based on current 4.55 percent interest rates. The city some time ago enacted sales, business license and lodging fees specifically for the project. Day said those are bringing in $250,000 to $260,000 annually so there should be about a $20,000 “cushion.” Additionally, Day said the tax income will grow over the years. Day called for a vote on the issue and council member Grace Megginson made the motion “to move forward-at last.” Council member Lewis Herron seconded. Council member Charles Allen offered opposition, saying he was not opposed to the civic center specifically but to repeated borrowing. The council had also discussed refinancing some existing bond issues during the meeting to secure lower interest rates. “When are we going to put a grip on this so we can track this and stop constantly borrowing and borrowing? It will eventually catch up with us,” Allen stated. Regarding refinancing, Day said city officials have a duty to save money if possible, even if it is only $20,000 a year as one refinancing proposal is. “That’s $20,0900 we can use for something else,” he said. Of the civic center project he said, “There are no smoking mirrors.” He said funding for the project is available outside of the general fund. When a vote was taken, Megginson, Herron, Gaines Smith and Day voted for the project and Allen and Alberta Dixon voted against. Dixon explained her vote, saying people she talked to wanted a “civic center building” and not a “theater and a new city hall.” The auditorium will have a slanted floor and Dixon’s comments referenced a flat floor for exhibits, dinners and other such events. The city hall reference was to a new and larger office for the mayor and city clerk that will be in the civic center, which will be connected to City Hall, which is a renovated wing of the old school.
Day said he respected those comments and said that he wanted McKee and Associates to look at the entire campus of the old high school to see if other buildings, perhaps the gymnasium, could be developed into a facility such as Dixon described.
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