Charleston Community Center to Benefit from Stimulus Money
posted 07/08/09
6:09 pm
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Charleston, SC -
Construction on a new community center gets underway Wednesday night thanks to federal stimulus dollars.
The Arthur Christopher Community Center will be built on Fishburne Street right across from Burke High School.Young and old, many say the center will be a benefit to all and a chance to see the stimulus program making a difference.
Shovels in the ground and a few scoops of dirt are the beginning of construction on this $5.7 million project. The facility will have a gym,a library and a kitchen.
The center is named after a former city councilman ,Arthur Christopher. His son, Myron Christopher, attended the ground breaking
Myron says, "Its a very rewarding experience, one of the things I like is the actual site, This is where he taught me baseball, he was my baseball coach."
A legacy that will continue so many years later. Lerone Johnson is a youth baseball coach in Charleston. He says the center will offer opportunities for kids looking to stay active
Johnson says,"If they are doing something at the end of the day, it's less likely they will be getting into trouble,
The facility is one of the first to be built from the ground up using stimulus funds.The city used local contractors and the project means 98 new jobs. Mayor Joe Riley says the center will serve as an example of Charleston pulling itself out of a recession
"That gives everybody a sense of optimism. We are pulling out of this and I know we will and the future will be brighter and it's good to see this project underway,
Myron says his father was the type of person who never gave up and he hopes his father's name and what he stood for will live on inside the walls of this center.
The center will be state of the art in terms of energy efficiency and Riley says it will serve as a blueprint for future projects.
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