Knox City Council Updated on Community Center Improvement Project

Upgrades to the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center will now include window repairs. Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the city council Tuesday that seal plates will have to be replaced on four to six windows. “That’s the bottom of the window, so the glass will have to come out on some of these windows and that seal plate replaced and painted and put back in,” he explained. “So I’m soliciting bids on that.”

This comes after an incident during a party at the community center this past weekend. “Somehow, a piece came off of this seal plate and a kid got hurt a little bit, and I’ve got the piece of wood,” Houston said. “That’s just one of them, but as long as we’re going to get them done, I think any of them that really show any kind of real bad wear ought to be done now that we’re borrowing this money.”

The city’s in the process of borrowing $255,000 for community center upgrades. So far, a $120,000 quote for HVAC upgrades has been accepted, along with a $66,000 quote for a new roof. Houston said those amounts work well with the city’s financing plan. “That managed to speed up the timetable,” he said, “and we should be able to be closing, even, by the end of July, as long as we move along at the timetable that they’ve come up with.”

New flooring may also be included in the project. No estimates have been received yet, according to Mayor Dennis Estok.