STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – The city has borrowed $2.4 million to renovate and remodel the Walter F. Ehrnfelt Recreation and Senior Center on Ohio 82 near Pearl Road.
Mayor Thomas Perciak told City Council Nov. 4 that the money will be used to “finish up and revitalize all the things we may need at the recreation center,” including the repair or replacement of elevators, doors and outdoor fences, according to meeting minutes.
However, Perciak and Bryan Bogre, the city’s parks and recreation director, didn’t return emails asking for more details, including a complete list of planned repairs and renovations and a dollar estimate for the project.
The money to pay for the project will come through the issuance of short-term bond anticipation notes sold to investors, who will earn interest on the notes over one year.
Often notes are issued in anticipation of longer-term debt in the form of municipal bonds.
However, Finance Director Eric Dean told cleveland.com that the city doesn’t expect to issue bonds for the community center project. Instead, the city will likely pay off the notes in December 2025 and issue another round of one-year notes at that time.
Dean said the interest rate for the recreation center notes is 3.7 percent, which Councilman Gordon Short, at the Nov. 4 council meeting, called “a very good rate, ” especially considering that the city’s investments are earning about 5 percent interest.
According to meeting minutes, Perciak said the community center project will include the children’s pool, the pool slide – which he said will cost more than $700,000 alone – and the “pirate ship.”
However, Perciak didn’t specify whether these items will be repaired or replaced.
“This is not for equipment,” Law Director Neal Jamison told council. “This is for repairing the elevator, and it’s for some fencing at some ball fields.
“We are going to look to do the event center flooring potentially, different things around the facility,” Jamison said. “You have to remember, it (the recreation center) is almost 30-years-old.”
Jamison said the city replaced the rec center’s workout equipment five or six years ago so that will not be part of this project.
According to the city website, the recreation center contains an aquatic center with pools, a gym, a walking-running track and workout and weight equipment. It also offers classes and programs for residents of all ages.