ADM site touted for rec center but Aquadome neighbors want council to look at other locations

Nov. 11—While some public officials supported using the Archer-Daniels-Midland property off West Moulton Street for a new recreation center to tap its economic development potential, several Aquadome-area residents chastised the City Council in a public hearing Wednesday for not looking at sites closer to them.

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The Decatur City Council held a called work session to seek public input into the location of a recreation center site to replace the Aquadome, which is being deeded to 3M Co. as part of a $98.4 million legal settlement over chemical contamination of this 25-acre property at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street Southwest. 3M would not take ownership until a new recreation center is built.

As part of the proposed settlement announced Oct. 18, the city will receive $35 million from 3M for an Aquadome replacement. 3M had not signed the settlement agreement as of Wednesday, but the governing bodies of Decatur, Decatur Utilities and Morgan County have all approved it.

About 30 to 40 people attended the meeting at City Hall. Several who addressed the council accused members of making up their minds without public input, although Council President Jacob Ladner said the ADM property selection isn't a done deal despite previous city promotions of the site as the possible location of a new rec center.

The 7.4-acre ADM property is the only site identified as a location for a proposed 75,000-square-foot recreation center in a website explaining the settlement that was released on the day the proposed settlement was announced.

A resolution for Monday's 10 a.m. council meeting agenda gives Mayor Tab Bowling permission to conduct a search for land that could be purchased in what is being called the Decatur Downtown Commons area between West Moulton Street and Finley Drive Northwest and along Dry Creek. In the settlement website, this area is anchored by the proposed recreation center.

Doris Baker, of Fifth Avenue Southwest, said it appears the City Council is in too much of a hurry. She pointed out that it hasn't looked for more sites near the Aquadome or even looked at the ADM property to see if it's suitable for a recreation center.

"My concern is the children getting to the facility," Baker said. "Why not look at other places?"

Baker said she's seen the city hurry before when it built the Turner-Surles Center in Northwest Decatur in the early 2000s. She said it was promoted as a place for children and now it's a senior center.

Chiriga Vinson criticized the council for "not being transparent and available" in its selection of a recreation center site. She urged the council members and mayor to "take us seriously."

"I demand our city leadership research other properties. Prove to the citizens that there's not another property that is more suitable," Vinson said.

Edith Smith Cannon said mostly low-income children live near the Aquadome and can walk there to stay busy and out of trouble. She said she is concerned the ADM property is too far away and getting there would be dangerous for these young walkers.

"Everybody doesn't have transportation," said Martia Morrow, who added that a property off Eighth Street and Runnymead Southwest that Councilman Billy Jackson mentioned recently would be a better choice.

However, Mayor Tab Bowling said the ADM property is closer to the Aquadome-area residents than the Eighth Street property and it is in District 1.

Morrow replied that it may be in District 1, but it's not in the Aquadome-area neighborhood.

Councilman Carlton McMasters said people all over the city use the Aquadome so a new recreation center is not just for the neighboring residents.

"This is for the entire city," McMasters said.

One thing that did please some of these residents is Ladner and McMasters said that this project isn't tied to the Carrie Matthews Recreation Center and its issues.

Carrie Matthews is facing a renovation or demolition because of bad soil under the foundation. Both council members guaranteed Carrie Matthews will stay in or near its current location, even if the city has to rebuild it.

The Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority identified the city-owned ADM cotton warehouse for development as part of Decatur Downtown Commons over a decade ago, and outgoing Director Rick Paler said Wednesday they never could find a suitable development for the location.

"I think it's an excellent opportunity," Paler said of building a recreation center there.

Paler said the Commons project is a way to join Decatur's two downtown areas and improve an undeveloped area.

Crystal Brown, president and CEO of the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, said she believes locating the recreation center at the ADM site "will be a catalyst for growth" in the area that the city might not get again.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.