NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — North Tonawanda officials say they have outgrown their small, outdated youth and senior centers and have proposed a multi-million-dollar community center project to replace them.
For those using the senior center, which is rented from the attached Carousel Park Apartments, concerns go beyond capacity. Seniors told me about worries they have about their safety, a dark parking lot, a leaky roof and more.
"It’s dangerous around here. I would say at least 2-3 times a day the cops are called for one thing or another in the vicinity, with the drug dealing, with the crime," 67-year-old Michael Woolford said.
"Water anywhere, [coming off of the ceiling] and to the table and onto the floor is a danger," 79-year-old Linda Pike said.
Alex Domaradzki, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department director, told me that they have run out of space at the Youth Center, which is rented from the Lumber City Church.
"We have a gym, two small side rooms and a main entryway, so [it’s] a little tight in there when you get 100 or so kids on a daily basis," Domaradzki said.
Domaradzki proposed an idea to the city. He would like to see the consolidation of the youth and senior centers that the city pays rent and utilities on. Instead, he'd like to see a larger, newly renovated and city-owned Norman Keller Building, which is currently best known for housing the DMV.
The plan would renovate the Keller Building, provide space for the DMV and add two additions: a multipurpose space and a full gymnasium. Domaradzki says that the extra space will go a long way in what they can offer to the children and seniors of the city. You can read all about the project here.
WATCH: 'An investment’: North Tonawanda to vote on $18M community center project
However, the one big hang-up is the $18 million price tag, which is set to be paid for through a special property tax. That rate would be $0.84 per $1,000 assessed home value, so a $100,000 home would equate to $84 per year.
Q: “Why do you think that price is worth it?”
Domaradzki: “I see it as an investment … at the Carousel Apartment building for the senior center, we are on the hook for any repairs to the roof or HVAC system, which are aging. That money will have to be put into that building if we stay. It doesn’t really make sense to invest in infrastructure that’s not ours.”
Mayor Austin Tylec believes that the $18 million total, and in turn the tax levy, will be decreased by the time the city ever has to pay it, because he expects the city will win grants from both the county and state.
“If funding sources come in as we intend them to, because we’ve been extremely successful over the years of bringing in tens of millions of dollars for private and public projects, this could easily be well under $10 million that we’d have to ultimately fund.”
Tylec also pointed out that North Tonawanda voters have approved both $60- and $ 40-million-dollar proposals for capital projects at the city school district within the past five years.
Voters will find the project on their ballots during the election in November.
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