MILTON — Guy Thompson Community Center officials now know some residents’ preferences for the facility’s improvement.
Among them are:
●Considering a noise-reducing partition
●Increasing the number of courts for basketball and pickle ball use
●Adding a pool for water aerobics, a media center and an indoor walking track
Center officials this week sought public input on a proposal to expand the facility, which opened in 2002 and hosts multiple activities for youths and seniors.
A meeting on Tuesday attracted almost 30 people and featured Mayor Wesley Meiss, and Council Members Alan Lowery, Mary Ellen Johnson and Jimmy Messick, among other city officials seeking ideas.
John Norton, director of the city’s parks and recreation department, and the meeting’s host, said the project’s first phase could involve expanding the indoor community center, which is too small for the number of activities and residents it hosts.
Chumuckla resident Richard Collins, a Senior Advisory Council member, said a main goal is considering residents of all ages in mind.
“This is a darn good start for a thing called the intergenerational gap; it’s to close that gap between what is today and what could be tomorrow,” Collins said.
Norton plans to present residents’ ideas to City Manager Brian Watkins, who would then pass the information to Kenneth Horne & Associates, the engineering firm designing the layout.
Once layout plans are finalized, the company will give the city a project cost estimate.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton officials, residents mull expansion options for Guy Thompson Community Center