Ely voters in November will be deciding on a $7 million bond issue to build a community center, KCRG reports. (Link includes autoplay video and no longer works in my version of Safari.) The bond does not cover the entire cost, necessitating a “funding gap” to fill.
Ely’s current city hall is located in the old school, which dates back to the early 20th century. It was used as part of the College Community (Prairie) district until 1971. In the second half of that year, the district had to delay procedures to sell the building because the title to the property was in doubt. The community center would be built on this site and replace both the city hall and the library.
The school building is so old, it never got a gymnasium, which is a big selling point for the new community center. It’s also so old that it’s obviously not ADA-compliant, and so that adds costs to fixing up the building.
The city has a page about the plans. The last sentence said the group was working toward having the project “on the ballet” instead of “on the ballot.” (There’s also an ensure/insure issue in the FAQ.)
The renderings for the project liberally use That Shade of Green, which is also a color theme in the city’s branding.