by Richard C. Clement
The Friends of George Cushingberry Jr.
Johnson Recreation Center has to be rebuilt from the ground
up because it will cost more per month to operate. Jonson Center looks new on the outside but
when you go inside, the pool and other construction issues become more apparent.
The pool was a former outdoor pool that served the neighborhood before, during,
and after normal working hours of 12-7:45pm.
Currently the pool at Johnson Center is not code compliant to today’s Building
Safety Engineering Department standards(BSEE) and, cost ineffective because the Johnson Center pool was built around
the existing outdoor pool. During the project the contractors built the new face around the old structure and kept the old
plumbing in place.
At this moment Johnson Rec Center is being used as a storage facility for unused and paid for things like signs, games, etc. You do not go inside with a suit on, more like blue jeans and a t-shirt because of the dust.
Solution? A number
of solutions were being floated around the neighborhood. One involved a special
assessment on all residential property within a 2 mile range of Johnson
Center. This self-imposed fee on your
property tax of an additional $50 per are restricted funds that cannot be
touched or diverted to anything else by law.
Another solution is to seek out a grant as a non-profit to receive funds
to build a new center that is economically feasible to manage. Features like tank-less water heating and
lights connected to sensors will greatly reduce the electric and light bills to
the taxpayers.
Once the new center is built, then the residents will have
membership privileges and will be able to use the center along with other
citizens. The neighborhood association in
charge of managing the funds use on recreation will have a great say in the
direction of their investments.
If you are interested in supporting this cause please
contact our office so that we can set up a meeting to make an action plan. We also plan to be at the annual 8 mile gathering behind old Beaubien Jr. High School a.k.a. Bates Academy.
We feel that Johnson Center is a vital asset to the
neighborhood and if we can reopen this facility, this will lead to a rebirth of
our community in District 2, especially for the children.
