News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A group of Sisters residents is looking for $600,000 to build a community center.
Carol C.B. Davis asked the Sisters City Council Thursday, March 12, to act as the administrator for a community development block grant to build the center. Davis represents a committee of five service club members and other interested citizens, who plan to apply for the federal grant in the city's name next month.
The center is planned for a 10-15 acre site owned by the Sisters School District, just west of Sisters High School. Preliminary plans call for a 10,000-square-foot two-story building, with an adjoining playground area and basketball court.
According to Davis, the center would house a teen center, a senior center, the Family Access Network, Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation, Head Start and a community food bank. It would also provide a place for immunization clinics, a teen mom center and a meeting place for groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
Councilor Tim Clasen asked whether the city should push for a community center inside the city limits.
Colin Adams, a member of the community center committee, said that the high school site was the only place big enough to house the services the group envisions.
"One of the key factors in a community center is a piece of ground to put it on," Adams said.
An alternative site on Barclay Ranch property Ted Eady has offered to the city for a park "severely restricts the size of the community center and parking and facilities that would go with it," Adams said.
The city can administer the federal grant funds for the center, even though the site is outside the city limits. A governmental agency is required to administer the funds.
According to Adams, the committee hopes the school district, which owns the property, can lease the center to the City of Sisters for five years so the city can monitor the project under the terms of the grant.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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