$433,000 EPA grant will help make way for new community center in Ideal
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the city as a recipient of its $433,080 Brownfield Assessment Grant, which will be used to clean up the former Ideal Modern Elementary School and make way for a new community center.
IDEAL, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Residents in the City of Ideal will have a new place to gather, have fun and maybe even live in the coming years.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the city as a recipient of its $433,080 Brownfield Assessment Grant, which will be used to clean up the former Ideal Modern Elementary School and make way for a new community center.
“It’s just a sore eye down there,” said Samuel Jenkins, the Mayor of Ideal.
The building was used for several purposes after the school closed, but the structure has sat vacant since 1981. Jenkins says he was a city councilman when Ideal acquired the property from the Macon County School District a little more than a decade ago. When he became mayor, Jenkins says he hosted a town hall to get community input on what the site should become.
“I didn’t have all the answers,” Jenkins said. “But I felt like if I got the community involved, they could come up with some stuff, which they did.”
According to the city, the property sits on 18.7 acres of land. Jenkins says that’s enough space to consider the addition of another town hall topic, the need for more housing.
“It just seems to me that Ideal has been at a standstill for such a long time,” Jenkins said. “And in order to get things moving, you have to have people here. But you have to have housing for people.”
Laura Schneider, Regional Planner for the River Valley Regional Commission, helped coordinate the city’s EPA grant process.
“It will remove the current contaminants at the site, which is asbestos,” Schneider said. “And it will also help to fund a portion of the demolition of the structure.”
The structure sits next to Ideal City Park. Schneider says the cleanup and revitalization of the property will remove the threat of asbestos exposure for community members, and combat slum and blight, which Schneider says can plague rural Georgia communities.
“I think the process of removing the structure and building a new center that can be used for the community will just help to improve the way the community looks and the way the community feels about how they appear to the outside world,” Schneider said.
Jenkins recalls memories of the site being used for events like family reunions and wedding receptions. He hopes the new community center can bring back some old magic and connectedness to Ideal.
“We don’t have but one other place for the community to meet to have functions and stuff,” Jenkins said. “And the community felt like it was a good idea to get involved in this, and hopefully we can finish it.”
According to Schneider, the grant will be active in October, and the city will have four years from then to complete the project. Jenkins says the city will also consider reserving rooms at the community center for a doctor and nurse to operate in.
