Rogers proposes new city complex in place of W.C. Whaley
February 14th, 2007 by Jeff
Residents and passersby on Main Street first noticed the missing playground equipment at W.C. Whaley three weeks ago. Speculation began as to what was taking place. Large trees and shrubs, in addition to the dilapidated walkway in the rear of the building were cut or torn down. The property looks surprisingly bare these days, and one is able to see more clearly the broken windows and doors that reveal the excessive vandalism that’s taken place since Monticello bought the school from the school district in fall of 2001 for $140,000.
Now Mayor Joe Rogers has a plan for the site. He sees a new city complex/community center on the site, including city offices, gymnasium, indoor pool, walking tracks, basketball courts, and meeting rooms for organizations. The Monticello Economic Development Commission and the Chamber of Commerce offices would be moved to the new location, as well as the fire department. Funding would come from a proposed bond issue. The bond issue also includes funding for renovations of the jail, court room, and other city facilities.
MonticelloLive tried to contact the mayor several times for an interview but calls were not returned. However, the Monticello Advance carried the story in this week’s addition regarding Roger’s plans after attending a Twenty for the Future meeting in which Rogers shared his presentation.
While still in the vision stages, the plans are quite extensive. Rogers compares the desired facility to one that he has seen in Sherwood, Arkansas and says that Monticello needs such a complex as well. Estimates for the facility are in the $5-6 million range. It’s unclear if this includes the estimated $120,000 cost of removing asbestos from the site. He hopes to fund the project by using one-half cent of a new 15-year, one-cent city sales tax that could be presented to voters as early as June. The current one-cent city sales tax is a ten-year tax and would have on the ballot for renewal in September, having last been approved by voters in 1997. The new tax, if approved, would go into effect in January 2008, after the current expires.
Rogers hopes to use one-half cent of the one-cent tax for a proposed $9 million bond issue in order to build the facility and complete other projects relatively soon after the sales tax is approved.
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You have omitted the most alarming aspect of Rogers’ plan (as published in Wednesday’s Advance)… Once new city offices are constructed on the Whaley site, he would like to tear down the old post office to construct a new police & courts building and demolish City Hall & the central fire station to construct a PARKING LOT.
I left a comment earlier on concerning the so Called vision of our cities leaders….my quesiton is in reality…IS THERE A VISON…..Mayor rogers has a good idea with the need for this kind of building..but right in the middle of historic housing, and in the middle of where residents live and take care of their daily lives does not seem practical.
VISON allows a person to see into the future as to what the aspect of building something like this will be in years to come. So questions arise. will the plans be inclusive to the historic district to keep monticello in line with what is taking place in other cities around the country where Historic area’s are the hot spots. Will the building be appropriate for that area? How do the residents who live in this area fel about it? How will it affect living in this area with the business of a facility like this? what personel is it going to take to run a building like this? Is ther efunds to take on this responsiblity. A building of this stature requires full time personel to keep it up and running?
Again VISON..what is it? where is it for this town? People stop and think of what is ahead in years to come. Good Idea..wrong place!
Although,I am very intrigued by the idea of a community center…(I have always thought one similar to the YMCA would do well here…..)I am not sure the voters of Monticello will go for it…….we will see how it goes,though.
Oh and I would be fully and utterly against demolishing City hall and the fire dept……….
The Central Fire Station — built in 1938 — is long past being out of date. The fire department is limited in the length of the engines they can purchase because the current pumper trucks literally fill the apparatus room front-to-back. The living quarters are sparse and the office space is limited. Without a doubt, the men & women of the department deserve a new fire station.
With that said, I think it’s important to preserve buildings of historic significance to the community. The fire station — and the men & women that staff it and the volunteers that lived there before them — have been standing guard over our city for nearly 70 years… 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
I’m no “building hugger.” In fact, I’m a big supporter of positive change. However, it’s important that you respect the past and know how it brought you to today. The buildings that make up the city complex at Church and Gaines Streets are a part of that past and should be preserved.
I hope that our Mayor was too busy was the matters of running the city and not intentionally avoiding contact with Moniticello Live’s lead reporter. It was stated in the print media’s story that ‘he’s trying to get the word out to residents’. It would seem that web traffic is increasing by the minute with Monticello Live and by reporting his proposal here would ‘get the word out’. I would speculate that many residents read this Monticello Live’s articles more times weekly than they do the local paper. This forum is already being used to discuss the topic and will most likely go a long way to helping to determmine the future of this proposal.
I’m certainly in full support of clearing the property formerly owned and utilized by WC Whaley. And would definitely get behind and support well thought out plans to erect a community center in that area. And since we’ve decided anything EAST of downtown should consist of rotting buildings and vehicles we should definitely move the Chamber of Commerce to this site or some OTHER site.
I would REALLY encourage you all to obtain and seriously look at the work the MEDC paid to have done by the University of Arkansas’ Community Design Center. You can even obtain a copy of their work. They’ve published a really great book that evaluates Monticello’s current status and more importantly they give a direction for our city’s growth. The book in complete with graphics and actual photographs throughout our community. FYI: Starting with page 102 they give their suggestions regarding the WC Whaley property.
If we move both the MEDC & the Chamber of Commerce to this location that would only leave the water office and the court room in the old Post Office and adjacent building. The water office employees could EASILY utilize the top floor of the court house. This would give way to expansion for both the Fire Station and the Police Station. Even in this very moment there are multiple lights that have been left on over the weekend on the top floor of the court house, and there even appears to be bars still on the top floor from when prisoners were once detained there but are no longer. (just so no one wonders….my backyard yields a prime view of the West side of ‘back’ of the court house). There are literally hundreds of things that could be done to make the court house both more functional and more aesthetically appealing. THIS SHOULD BE OUR CONCENTRATION regarding “City Offices”.
Let me say that I believe our Mayor is about change, and that positive change is what he wants for our community. Taking the old WC whaley building, and turning it into a community center, and fire station is a great idea. Also moving the municipal offices there, along with the courts would be great as well. Monticello and Drew County do not have adequate facilities for any of their government offices. Our fire station is in great need of a larger building, our municipal offices and meeting rooms can not accommodate the general public well, and our courtrooms are awful. The municipal court room (in the old post office) is a joke, and can’t really be called a courtroom. There is one courtroom at the courthouse, and some days there is a great need for more. The Whaley building would allow the opportunity for the needed expansion. I believe that Monticello has some great historical buildings, and our current municipal building is one of those. There are many things that could be done to that building rather than tear it down and start over. For example, our Chamber of Commerce could use a larger space, and why not move them to the current municipal building, and go as far as turning the old fire department into an area that people can tour. We do have some old equipment, and I know we have a great deal of items that could be used in this area. Also, there have been a lot of dedicated people who have given a great deal of their time in service to the fire and police department. Some have retired, and some have passed on, but their hard work and dedication is something that could be honored. I support the Mayor 100% and I believe he has the best for our town at heart. And besides, he did not say that he was going to do anything to the current facility, he simply said that was a possibility.
Chris-
I’m not sure I understand your comment as you weaved from city hall to the county court house. Certainly, these are two separate buildings and the new community center would replace city hall — not the court house.
As for the lights still on upstairs at the court house, it is my understanding (although I haven’t visted in several years) that the sheriff’s office remains on the top floor even though the jail does not.
You are correct Michael, the top floor of the courthouse still remains used by the Sheriff’s office. However, it might be a good idea for the county and the city to look at working together to build a new municipal building in front of the jail to house the sheriff’s department and a couple of courtrooms. But this is a completely different issue from the community center proposal at Whaley. The courthouse is in great need of repairs, however that will take getting the quorum court and administration to obtain funds and make an effort to make changes. Changes with county offices and such will not be a realistic change until we first change administration (Judge and court members) and put in some who are interested in making a change. We began that this year with electing Ron Echols, and I have a good feeling that 2008 will see several new court members elected.