Celina councilors tepid on Bryson Park pavilion idea

CELINA - A proposal to construct an enclosed pavilion for community events and private parties in the Bryson Park District was met with ambivalence in Celina City Council's chambers this week, as one councilman expressed concern about maintenance costs and another questioned demand for such a facility.

Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel announced the proposal at the tail-end of this week's parks and rec committee meeting, opening up a discussion that spilled over into the regular council meeting. The idea came from State Rep. Angie King, R-Celina, according to Hazel.

"It's called Lakeside Pavilion," he said. "I've been talking with a representative (King) who felt like there hasn't been a lot of money flowing in this area, and she had suggested that Celina could benefit from an enclosed pavilion that would be like a community center, and she's looking at upwards of a half million dollars for this in their biennial budget, which I think would be for next year to come out."

City officials, he noted, might need to pony up $100,000 for the project.

Proposed to be built southeast of the Harley C. Jones Memorial Rotary Amphitheater, the pavilion would encompass 2,816 square feet of enclosed space and 1,280 square feet of covered porch with picnic tables facing the lake, renderings show.

"It'd be in an area that doesn't really … block views," Hazel said.

There would be a 1,536-square-foot event hall capable of hosting 60 people, as well as a 480-square-foot kitchen with pass-thru serving window, women's and men's restrooms, storage area and mechanical/janitor room.

Plans call for an open, flexible layout for community events, parties, reunions, showers and public rentals.

"It's not to take away from the Romer's (Catering) or any place like that, the Nest (Event Space) downtown," Hazel said. "But from a public standpoint, it would give something that is more internal that you can get inside, and I wanted to find out, honestly, the appetite of council if we can go ahead."

Hazel's brief presentation was preceded by a discussion about efforts to restore the playing conditions of city baseball and softball diamonds, including hiring a second full-time parks employee.

"Are we going to maintain this in-house, or is it going to be some other funding source (that will) maintain it?" Wolfe asked. "Because we can't afford to maintain our facilitates we got now. We sure in the heck can't afford to maintain this facility."

Hazel said the city could certainly contract with a janitorial firm to help maintain the pavilion. Revenue from rental fees could pay for the services, he added.

"It's a great idea, but we don't have the staff or the funds to maintain it. Even if it's 100% paid for we don't have the staff or the funds to pay for it, to maintain it," Wolfe said.

Councilman Thomas Sanford had a different take on the proposal.

"I would say that this would be a great idea for the community and that we could make it so that the funds would cover everything," he said. "I get it. When things break down or something happens to it that we need to make repairs that are costly. I think we could look at those proposals. Maybe we could get some ideas of where that would come from."

Councilman Eric Clausen asked if the pavilion was the only option for state funding.

"That's what was offered," Hazel said. "When they do line-item grants … they are typically looking at specific capital projects, not 'Here's $500,000, go spend it where you want.' It's not an open line. It's typically … earmarked for something specific."

Later on during the regular meeting, Council President Jason King said he acknowledged Wolfe's concerns about upkeep but suggested council have another discussion on the matter.

"If we can get money from the State of Ohio, our tax dollars back to our community, by all means," Jason King said.

Hazel said if council contracted with an outside firm to clean and maintain the pavilion, rental fees would have to be set at an amount that would cover the expense.

"I know currently right now, with the amphitheater, that's a million-dollar structure and we looked at either $300 or $400 to rent that. People are already scared by that amount of money. But it does take money to maintain that … to do repairs," he said.

Clausen wondered aloud if there's enough interest to support building a pavilion.

"I've brought it up many times in meetings here that we don't use the amphitheater enough," he said. "To have another structure down there … if we can't get people to use it, does it make sense to do that?"

"Anytime we can get a grant to build something that we could use is great. I just feel that something like this, sometimes we can't afford the gift, and we've been down that road before," Wolfe said. "I don't think it would be used enough to maintain it."

Councilman Jeremy Uhlenhake chimed in.

"I think it's a great idea, but if it's going to be leased out to rent, just from this past summer with my daughter graduating from high school and seeing all the people renting the fairgrounds, I know that was very inexpensive to rent. A lot of people did it," he said. "So we would have to make sure it's priced right … so that it's competitive. So with that being said, not being able to make as much on each rent, it's going to take even more time to make money."

Councilors ultimately took no action on the proposal.