Community center ideas going to Bainbridge, GHS

Greencastle Middle School students, assisted by science teacher Stacie Stoffregen, launch hot air balloons from the football field Tuesday morning. For the past 11 years, students in Stoffregen's class and teacher Matt Huber's social studies class have made the balloons as part of a unit of study about World War II. In previous years, the balloons have traveled up to 5 miles before losing air and drifting to the ground.

Members of a community center task force in Greencastle are seeking the help of all Putnam County residents as they look for ways to include more ideas in their plan.

Greencastle resident Adam Cohen, one of the organizers of the community-based group, said they are planning to host a series of public meetings in communities throughout Putnam County in the next few weeks.

The first meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bainbridge Community Center. The public is invited to come and share their ideas and any concerns about the project.

A second public forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Greencastle High School.

Cohen said the community center task force is hoping to host meetings at South Putnam and Cloverdale, pending school board approvals.

The group has decided to postpone its May 21 meeting in Greencastle to allow for more time to conduct the satellite meetings throughout the county.

Once the satellite meetings are completed, task force members will review the information gathered from each of the towns and incorporate it into the overall plan. The community center may be located in or around Greencastle but would be open to all county residents.

In April, the task force conducted a public forum at the Putnam County Fairgrounds where some basic ideas for the project were presented and ideas from the public were sought.

At that meeting, task force members presented their findings to the group, which included pictures taken at seven different community centers located in towns and cities throughout central Indiana.

The average cost to construct the community centers visited by the task force is between $3 million and $7 million, with an average annual operational cost of $700,000.

For more information on the project, the public can contact Cohen at 658-4119 or e-mail him at adamcohen79@yahoo.com