Decatur’s Assistant Director of Active Living, Cheryl Burnette writes in…

Decatur Recreation Starting Move to Beacon Hill on Monday

The Decatur Recreation Center will begin the move to the Temporary Rec  Center location at Beacon Hill, behind the Decatur Police Station on Monday, May 23  in preparation for our  renovation. We will experience a temporary outage in our phone and internet services of approximately one hour during the transfer on Monday morning.

All camps and sports registration, etc.  will be at the new site, located at 430 W Trinity Place beginning Monday afternoon.

All after-school programming, exercise and regular Rec  Center activities will continue at Decatur Rec on Sycamore Street through Friday, May 27^th. After that date, the Sycamore Street location will be closed to the public and our regular programming will be at Beacon Hill.

Summer camps will begin on Tuesday, May 31 at the Temporary Beacon Hill Location.

We look forward to serving the community from our Temporary Rec Center.

Beacon Hill is surely in need of some upgrades, but this sounds like a slightly better temporary location than the old meat-packing facility where city hall staff holed up while city hall was under renovation!

*If schools close that is.  From the City of Decatur’s Linda Harris…

Snow Day Camp at Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore Street – Friday January 14

Attention City of Decatur Parents: If City Schools of Decatur close on Friday January 14, City of Decatur residents may enroll children Kindergarten through 8th grade for a Snow Day Camp at the Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to spend the day with Children and Youth Services staff. Enrollment will be first-come starting at 9:00 a.m. and limited to the first 80. Activities will range from active group games to arts and crafts, board games and free choice activities. A registration form will be required for all participants. No fees will be charged. All participants should bring a lunch and a snack. If you have questions, call the Recreation Center 404-377-0494.

For any and all Decatur residents hoping to wrap their heads around the potential funding options the city is considering for outstanding capital improvement projects (Public Works, Rec Center, Fire Station #1, etc)…

City of Decatur residents and property owners are invited to a public information session regarding the capital bond projects, financial options for capital improvements and future financial projections on Thursday, September 2 from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in the City Commission Meeting Room, Decatur City Hall, 509 N. McDonough Street, Decatur, GA 30030.

Outta the mouths of Decatur residents.

It’s funny how many times in recent months I’ve heard the statement above called out; each with unique dreams of regional dominance.  “Book Capital!”  “Food Capital!”  “Festival Capital!”

Well, the city is leading up an effort to capture all these individual passions into a single plan. A “Cultural Arts Master Plan”. And next Monday is your last chance to participate and give your feedback.  Here’s all the info you need, all in one colorful poster.

Click to enlarge.

Yesterday, many of you wondered openly why the city was asking about additional bond funding for Decatur Fire Station 1 and the Rec Center in a new Open City Hall question, when renovations to those facilities were also covered under the previous bond referendum.

City Manager Peggy Merriss responded this morning with this statement.

1. Improvements to Fire Station No. 1 were included in the 2007 bond issue.

In estimating what we would need for renovations to Fire Station Number 1 and rebuilding fire Station Number 2 for the total amount of funding, we estimated replacing the existing 2400sf Fire Station No. 2 with a new 2400sf Fire Station No. 2. Instead, in order to provide for placement of two pieces of fire equipment, to provide separate personal areas for each firefighter so that male and female firefighters could have some privacy in sleeping arrangements and bathroom facilities, and to provide alternative emergency management capabilities, Fire Station No. 2 is a 4800sf building. In the end, it cost about double our estimate because it was double the size.

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