Upgrades to the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox should begin by the end of this summer. A new heating and cooling system, as well as a new roof are set to be installed.
Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council Tuesday that with the financial arrangements falling into place, the contractors putting together a timeline. “The HVAC system, they’re five weeks out,” he said. “They had to order their equipment. It was four to six, so they got confirmation that all the equipment should be here in five weeks. The new metal roof is also got confirmation today on a starting date, and basically, they’re wanting to start probably right around a week after Labor Day.” The city also expects to have some money left over for new flooring or carpeting.
To fund the project, the community center building corporation met Tuesday to approve the necessary documents. John Julien with accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates explained the process. “When the building was originally constructed, because of Indiana laws, we had to create a building corporation to do that,” he said. “So the building corporation actually borrows the money, and the city pays a lease payment to the building corporation to pay the loan off.”
Julien said that loan is close to being paid off. The resolution passed by the building corporation Tuesday will extend it another five years with a slightly lower payment, to cover the cost of the renovations.
Following the building corporation meeting, the city council followed suit by passing its own version of the resolution.
