Half a dozen local businesses and civic groups were recognized Monday afternoon for successfully raising the $8,500 needed to buy a new half-court curtain for the McCreary Community Building.
Perry City Administrator Butch Niebuhr thanked the donors for their support of one of Perry’s most important public assets, the city recreation and community center.
Niebuhr said fundraising efforts started last November when the Perry Lions Club donated the initial $500 toward the new curtain, which replaced the original, 30-year-old gymnasium curtain. Perry Lions Club President Dave Wright represented the club at the ceremony Monday.
The Perry Rotary Club and Bolton and Menk Engineering made donations in December, with the Rotary bringing $300 to the cause and the Ames-based engineering firm giving the lion’s share of the cost with a $5,000 donation.
“It’s important to us to support the communities where we work,” said Matt Ferrier, Bolton and Menk project manager and the Perry City Engineer.
Rotary Club President Chuck Painter was unable to attend the afternoon meeting at the McCreary Community Building.
Niebuhr also praised the efforts of Raccoon Valley Bank President and CEO Terry Nielsen, who not only brought the bank’s $1,500 check to the project but was instrumental in persuading two local investment groups, Perry Industries and Perry Economic Development, to meet the fundraising goal in late January with donations of $600 each.
The new curtain, with an upper half of mesh and a rubberized lower half, was supplied by NGE Inc. in Roland.
MCB Aquatics Coordinator Jimmy Kezar said the curtain divides the gymnasium most of the time, as the space serves many functions for local residents and visitors, from school children to senior citizens.
Niebuhr noted the curtain is raised for large events, such as then-presidential candidate Barack Obama’s visit on New Year’s Eve 2007.
“We’ve had a lot of politicians speak here over the years and are apt to have a lot more,” Niebuhr said. “Huckabee’s the only one who ever stiffed us on the rent.”
The McCreary Community Building gets a new director next Monday, April 20, when John Anderson of Creston takes the helm. Anderson’s hiring was approved last week by the Perry City Council after an extensive review of numerous applications for the director position.
Anderson will join Kezar, Recreation Coordinator Becky Towers and Office Manager Jean Dowd in running the MCB, half of whose visitors use the gymnasium, according to Kezar.
