PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Thanks to a $1.5 million donation from a local family, construction of a new Presque Isle community center may go out to bids early in the new year.
The Presque Isle Community Center Project Campaign Committee announced Monday the gift from Bruce Sargent’s family.
“There is no question this donation is why we can go to bids as early as February,” Chris Beaulieu, Presque Isle director of parks and recreation, said Wednesday. “We are very excited.”
In 2012, Presque Isle residents voted to support a $7.5 million center, with half the funding to come from local taxes and the remaining 50 percent raised through donations.
“The Sargent donation really puts this in a good light,” Beaulieu said. “It gives us a huge momentum boost that will help to get many other people on this.”
The new center will be located on 8 acres on Chapman Street. The site was chosen because of its closeness to the downtown, the outdoor pool, the bicycle path and Riverside Park, which is where the department runs its soccer program.
Plans call for a 30,000-square-foot, single-story facility that will feature a walking track, gymnasium, locker, meeting rooms, space for citizen groups and other amenities.
The William V. Haskell Community Center was built in 1964 as a place where youths and adults could gather to exercise, hold meetings and conduct other activities.
But city officials say the three roofs on the building are leaking, floor joists are beginning to rot, the electrical service is outdated, asbestos is in the walls and ceiling panels, and the chimney is cracked and breaking up, among other problems.
“Our community needs an active community center now more than ever,” Bruce Sargent said in a news release. “Kids need a safe place to spend time after school and during the summer months engaging with their peers in physical and social activities. Involvement in recreational sports keeps kids off the streets and reduces the chance of them being involved in drugs or criminal activities. Even if we save just one young person from these things, it’s well worth it.”
The Sargent donation, Beaulieu said, goes a long way in taking the community center from a dream to reality.
“We do still have a ways to go,” he said. “But we have good community support.”
Beaulieu is looking to get another shot in the fundraising arm with the upcoming annual Presque Isle Rotary Auction which this year is dedicated to the community center.
The Sargent donation puts the community center fundraising level at 62 percent of its goal, Beaulieu said.
“This center will be so great for families of all ages,” he said. “This community has a lot to offer, and this will be another piece of that.”
Information about the Presque Isle Community Center project may be seen at picommunitycenter.com.
