Update on the Community Center

As most of you know the School Bus Barn burned to the ground in early February. This put a hold on determining whether to build the community center on the possible School property location. At this point it seems that the Bus Barn will be rebuilt on the same location across the street from the school. The next school board meeting is scheduled for March 24th and Ecliptixnet has been requested to attend and answer any questions the board may have concerning the project.

We were aiming for a decision by the end of February, but the school sent a letter to Ecliptixnet and the USDA asking for an extension due to the unforeseen fire. Other news behind the scenes, Amanda McKerighan from Steven’s County Rural Libraries submitted a request to the recent stimulus package that was passed by congress asking for $500,000.00 to add unto the existing Community Center. This would allow us to at least add a section for the Library, Youth Center and possibly the commercial kitchen. If you want to keep an eye on this portion of the Community Center go to www.stimuluswatch.com check out the town of Northport. While there you can also vote on whether this is a good/needed project. Our partners in this project are:
· USDA/Ecliptixnet
· Steven’s County Rural Libraries
· Bethel Youth Centers
· TEDD (Business Incubator, Commercial Kitchen)
· WSU
· Community Colleges of Spokane
· Northport Medical Clinic
· Northport Schools

The first phase of the Community Center is due to be up and running by October. If anyone would like to donate or volunteer time to the project you can contact Art Grobben at 675-5063 or Sandi Everson at 732-8847. When the first phase is done we will need volunteers willing to keep the center open for public use.