Southwest Messenger - May 19th, 2019

PAGE 6 - SOUTHWEST MESSENGER - May 19, 2019
club meeting
Women’s Civic Club
The Women’s Civic Club of Grove City
meets at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every
month, except January and February, at
the Grove City Library. The philanthropic
group begins its evenings with a speaker,
followed by a business meeting and
refreshments. If interested in attending,
contact Carol Bonder at 614-558-6138.
Community Focus
www.columbusmessenger.com
t
JEFFREY P. COMPTON
ATTORNEY AT LAW
General Practice
Personal Injury • Domestic
Probate • Wills
Power of Attorney
Healthcare Documents
FREE CONSULT & PARKING
614-875-7233 Fax: 614-875-7207
3894 Broadway, Grove City
www.jeffreypcompton.com
Email: jcompton@jeffreypcompton.com
Lung Cancer?
Asbestos exposure in industrial,
construction, manufacturing jobs, or the
military may be the cause. Family in
the home were also exposed.
Call 1-866-795-3684 or email
cancer@breakinginjurynews.com.
$30 billion is set aside for asbestos
victims with cancer. Valuable settlement
monies may not require filing a lawsuit.
May Giveway
Place a prepaid classified line ad in our paper
for the month of May and be registered to win a
$50 Gift Card from
The Columbus Messenger Newspapers.
All ads received by mail, in person,
email or phone will be included in the drawing.
Drawing will be held May 29th, 2019
and the winner will be notified
and published in
our June 2nd issue
GOOD
Messenger photo by Dedra Cordle
Urbancrest Mayor Joseph Barnes Sr. and a delegation of council members, community leaders, spiritual advisers and developers
prepare for the ribbon cutting at the opening of the Quinichett Pavilion on May 3.
LUCK!
Pavilion opens in Urbancrest
By Dedra Cordle
Staff Writer
The prospect of a prolonged construction project
taking place near their homes would not thrill most
residents, but the one that was slated to be built adjacent
to hers had Vera Ziglar-Zimmerman buzzing with
anticipation.
For years, the village of Urbancrest resident had
been hoping to see the construction of an enclosed shelter
house in the community and for years had been
denied that opportunity. She was tired, she said, of
having to look outside of the area for an affordable
place to host family gatherings and celebrations, and
especially tired of having to host them at the open shelter
house at Martin Luther King Park.
“We would all be packed into that little space with
bugs flying around us and our food, and sometimes the
rain would be coming in at us,” she said.
So when she heard that council had approved the
construction of an enclosed shelter house in 2016, she
was beyond ecstatic.
“I was so pleased to learn we were finally getting
one,” she said.
The initial groundbreaking
was pushed back due to
inclement weather, but when
they finally put those shovels on
the dirt in the summer of 2017,
Ziglar-Zimmerman was right
there watching.
As the months went by, she
continued to observe the construction
process, becoming
more and more excited as the
building took shape. And when it
appeared the exterior structure
was finished, there was no word
as to when it would open.
What happened to cause the
long delay, said village Mayor
Joseph Barnes Sr., was a plethora
of issues stemming from the construction company
the council had hired to undertake the project.
“It was a bit of a mess for a while,” he said.
It began, he explained, when contractors expressed
their discomfort at some of the material requests the
company, Palmetto Construction Services, was making.
Then came the firing of the first site manager who,
Barnes said, had expressed similar complaints.
Shortly thereafter, the two parties went into arbitration
and the company defaulted in 2019. The
Messenger reached out to the last known number and
email address for comment on these allegations, but
the line was not connected and the email bounced
back.
Despite the headaches and delays, Barnes said
there was a dogged determination to have the opening
of the pavilion take place as soon as it was safely possible.
On May 3, that day finally came with the grand
opening of the Quinichett Pavilion, which was named
in honor of Samuel and Ella Quinichett, the first
African American family to settle in the village.
Barnes said though the construction of the pavilion
was an unexpectedly long and exhaustive process, it
stands as an example of the spirit and perseverance of
the community.
“Sometimes you end up walking on the rough side of
the mountain and when you reach the top it is smooth
sailing on the other side,” he said during the ceremony.
Though there are some drainage and sound issues
that still need to be worked on, Barnes said the million
dollar pavilion is now open for business.
“We’ve already got people signed up and lined up (to
use the building),” he said.
While Ziglar-Zimmerman has yet to add her name
to that list — she primarily plans to attend graduation
celebrations and family gatherings this summer — she
said she was thrilled with the end result.
“It was a long time coming but it was worth it,” she
said. “It looks beautiful and it’s so exciting to have this
in our community.”