My apologies!  See my corrections below and in the headline.

On the agenda for tonight’s Decatur City Commission meeting: providing $1 million more to renovate Ebster Pool.

Back in August, the city estimated $1 million to renovate Ebster Pool with the following new amenities:

• Changes to the pool to reduce its length from 25 meters to 25 yards and to widen the pool to provide 8 lanes for competitive swimming.
• Overhead lighting to allow longer hours for swimming meets.
• New mechanical systems to replace the original filtration tanks and pumps installed when the pool was built over 30 years ago.
• Complete renovation of the bathhouse to include new men’s and women’s changing rooms, a family changing room, new staff office.
• New lift for disabled swimmers, new water fountains, fencing and other amenities

Now a letter from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon states that the pool renovation will cost an additional $1,094,000 to complete the project as part of the Beacon Hill complex development.  That’s an extra $94,000.  Mr. Saxon says that there are still funds to in the project’s larger budget to cover the increase.

In an effort to limit costs Mr. Saxon notes…

…we are planning to re-use existing shade structures and to rough-in a spray pad. As we get closer to completing the entire Beacon project. We’ll be better able to determine whether we can add back the equipment for the spray pad.

From tonight’s Decatur City Commission agenda (page 44), a letter from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon to City Manager Peggy Merriss…

The purpose of this memorandum is to recommend approval of a project budget of $38,000,000 and an agreement with Potts Construction for construction manager at risk services for Beacon Municipal Complex improvements at a guaranteed maximum price of of $30,375,000.  This project will be financed through a combination of the City’s fund balance and HOST revenues ($6,000,000) and the issuance of Urban Redevelopment Authority bonds ($32,300,000).

Mr. Saxon goes on to detail what will be done to the Beacon Hill site, including “selective demolition” and construction of a 30,000 square foot Police Dept, adaptive reuse of 25,000 square feet for the CSD Central Office, about 28,000 square feet for community recreation, arts and cultural spaces; “and major storm drainage improvements to support the site development”.

Greg points to this announcement on the Decatur Farmer’s Market website…

The City of Decatur(CoD) and Decatur Farmers Market(DFM) reached a tentative agreement to allow DFM to hold the weekly Wednesday and Saturday market at the redesigned Beacon Hill Complex multipurpose courtyard (see the rendering in the post). The tentative date for the project completion is spring of 2015. We are very excited about this and have been working with the city for years to come up with a suitable long term location to hold the market.

Many thanks to Lena Stevens and Lyn Menne from the CoD for their work on this as well as Duane Marcus (our market manager) and Steve Provost for their site input.

With CSD enrollment continuing to rise at a rapid pace, it looks all but certain that CSD’s current central office location, Westchester Elementary, will soon need to revert back to its original use.  So CSD staff is already looking into new Central Office locations.

From the Superintendent Phyllis Edwards’ letter (under Superintendent’s Report on the agenda) to the Decatur School Board prior to the April 10th meeting…

We continue to meet with City of Decatur personnel regarding the possibility of renovating Beacon Hill and having that become the School System Central Office. There is a joint meeting scheduled between the City Commissioners and CSD School Board on April 16th in the City Commission Room at 6:30. You will hear plans for the complex at that time. We do not have firm information yet; having only met with lead players and legal departments to see if it is possible for CSD to buy and own a renovated building.

The AJC had a nice story over the weekend about Decatur’s master plan to renovate the Beacon Hill Complex – once Beacon Elementary and Trinity High School for the city’s black community – to serve as the city’s arts hub and provide the Decatur Police with an upgraded facility.

Here are a couple snippets from the article that I found particularly interesting…

[Former Decatur Mayor Elizabeth Wilson] can drive around the former Beacon Hill and map out a verbal grid of the district’s halcyon days, including at least a dozen streets that no longer exist. She points out where the Ritz Movie Theater stood, and where other businesses were, including Rogers Cab Co. , Mossman’s Grocery, Kilgore and Anderson’s Barbershop, Spates Barbecue Stand, LC’s Rib Shack, the Cox Brothers Funeral Home, Tom Steel’s Cafe (known for its sausage “splits” that cost 10 cents), George Sterling’s Cafe (whose splits were 15 cents because they had lettuce, tomato and, Wilson said, “real meat”) and Thankful Baptist Church, where Jackie Robinson spoke in the early 1960s.

…No matter the cost, [architectural historian Steven] Moffson believes the project’s more than worth it.

“I’ve visited a lot of these equalization schools throughout the state,” he said. “If they haven’t been torn down, then they’ve been abandoned, or they’re in very bad shape. That’s what’s so great about this project. They’re not only saving the schools, they’re preserving the memory of an entire community.”

Above is a rendering of the proposed renovation/redevelopment of Beacon Hill complex, designed by Rutledge Alcock Architects and Lord Cultural Resources, after months of public meetings and community feedback.

Dave has a report from last night’s presentation on InDecatur, with a few more pictures of the renderings and good, detailed descriptions of the proposed changes.

In a nutshell, the eastern side keeps the old facade of the historic Beacon Hill building, but rotates the gym inside.  The western side features an entirely new police department, and the central courtyard – which features a movie screen on the southern wall – would “serve as a meeting center for the active living, arts, and police components.”, according to Dave.

Dave reports that the cost would be between $15-$20 million.  There currently is no planned funding for this project.

Scott points to a blurb in the print version of the AJC, but not yet online.

Decatur is one of 10 Georgia cities receiving federal money for historic preservation projects.

The city will receive $10,000 from the Historic Preservation Fund to do a condition assessment report and preservation plan for the Beacon Hill complex.

The complex on West Trinity housed pre-integration elementary and high schools for the city’s African-American students.  It has served as the city’s police department since the early 1980s.

The city has considered for years how to renovate the existing building for modern use, while retaining the historic character.