West Newsmagazine 2-7-18

12 I NEWS I
February 7, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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By BONNIE KRUEGER
The city of Manchester celebrated
the grand opening of its new Parks,
Recreation & Arts building with
an open house on Sunday, Jan. 21.
Over 200 area residents attended for
a special tour of the new facility.
Construction began after Labor
Day 2016 and was projected to be
completed in time for summer 2017
programming; however, unforeseen
delays changed the temporary occupancy
date to Nov. 20. Since that
date, the city has hosted a number
of programs inside the 14,000-square-foot
facility.
The majority of the parks building is
new construction, which was more costeffective
than renovations. However, part
of the original parks building was retained
and houses the maintenance department
and storage facilities.
One of the biggest considerations for
the new facility was making the structure
earthquake-proof and having a basement
that would serve as a shelter during severe
weather and double as a control center for
city employees should a cataclysmic event
occur. Another key feature was providing
access to indoor restrooms at all times.
During normal operating hours, visitors
will be able to access the restrooms from
inside the building; after hours, visitors
will have exterior access.
Parks Director Eileen Collins said the
old parks building had limitations and
noted that, in order to serve the community
better, the updated facility was much
needed.
One of the biggest perks of the new
building is a 50-foot-by-40-foot multipurpose
room that will be used for indoor
programming. Because of this additional
space, the city has added several new programs
to its 2018 offerings. Among those
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New parks building opens up
community opportunities
AUDIT, from page 11
“I think this is a cynical ploy to make a
political candidate look bad,” Stine said.
“The ploy is the mayor, assisted by councilmember
DeHart, and the candidate is John
Gragnani.”
Gragnani is running against DeHart for
the Ward 1 council seat in April and also
is a city founder and previous Celebrate
Wildwood volunteer.
According to DeHart, the issue doesn’t
boil down to politics, but rather fiscal
responsibility.
“This is $300,000 of real taxpayer money,
Manchester Munchkins was one of the first events to
make use of the new parks building.
new offerings are theater camps and programs,
an inventors camp and a Crayola
camp, all geared for youth. The city also is
hosting babysitting, home alone and bully
prevention programs.
Recently, the city held its Manchester
Munchkins event, for children ages
2 to 5, in the new facility. The children
enjoyed crafts, games, snacks and stories
in an hour-long program that has additional
dates scheduled through August.
A complete list of upcoming activities is
in the process of being finalized. Registration
for residents begins Feb. 26 at the park
office and March 1 for non-residents. Online
registration begins March 1 for everyone.
The multipurpose room also will allow
space for before- and after-care for summer
camps and for rentals by community members.
Space can be rented for birthday or
anniversary parties as well as baby or wedding
showers. The multipurpose room can
be rented in its entirety or as partitioned
space.
The building, which cost about $3.5
million, was funded and paid for in full
through the Parks and Stormwater Fund,
which is a half-cent park and stormwater
sales tax, and through a grant from
St. Louis County’s Municipal Park Grant
Commission.
it’s not play money,” DeHart said. “I want
to make it very clear that we have this ordinance
going forward, because events like
Celebrate Wildwood or the BBQ Bash are
only going to get bigger.”
Regarding suspicions of the audit being
politically motivated, Bowlin said the priority
is to double-check the use of event funds.
“I think we should move past the politics
and look at the real crux of the issue, which
is to see if over $300,000 of our residents’
money was spent appropriately,” Bowlin
said. “Period.”
The results are scheduled to return to the
council on March 12.