Demolition began Monday in the auditorium of the McCreary Community Building in Perry, the first phase of the $1.7 million remodeling project approved by the Perry City Council in January.
The planned improvements and upgrades include converting the MCB auditorium to a cardio workout room, resurfacing the gymnasium floor, adding a family restroom and child watch room, remodeling the locker rooms, kitchen, restrooms and other changes.
The gymnasium will be closed for about six weeks starting March 11, according to Dana Pedersen, senior project manager and project architect with Polk City-based Ethos Design Group.
Prior renovations to the MCB have been made piecemeal over several years. The most immediate recent needs were the $250,000 roof replacement in 2018 and the $280,000 replacement of the MCB’s 35-year-old chillers and boilers in 2019.
With these infrastructure priorities addressed, attention turned to improving the MCB’s interior and to the opinions expressed by Perry residents when surveyed in 2018 for the Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
The McCreary Community Building opened Sept. 24, 1983, with help from a $650,000 bequest from the estate of Rex and Irma McCreary of Perry. The McCrearys made several stipulations about what their money could be used for when put toward a community center in Perry, including requiring senior services and daycare services and a city match of the McCreary funds.
The taxpayers of Perry approved a $1.14 million bond issue for the center in the summer of 1981. The rec center has always operated at a loss, but the value of the facility as a public asset has made it well worth supporting over the years, according to Perry residents and city officials.
