Carroll County Civic Center Parking Lot Gets Resurfaced

HUNTINGDON (May 26) — After several years of deterioration, the Civic Center’s parking lot was resurfaced last week. The work comes through the Connected Community Facilities grant the County received. The estimated cost to resurface the grounds was $300,000.

Additionally, the facility replaced all its HVAC units for $122,129. Blankenship Heating & Cooling of Huntingdon was selected to complete the job. As the renovation project moves forward, Barger Construction of Yuma is managing the day-to-day operations.

Members of the Carroll County Civic Center Committee expressed their desire to see numerous renovations and improvements to the facility. Among the improvement requests were a digital road sign along Highway 70, a conference/board room, construction of a pavilion, restroom facilities, parking lot resurfacing, and making sure the facility meets ADA compliance.

The grant offset numerous costs expected from the renovations. New signage would cost the county approximately $50,000. With the possibility of a $2 million grant, the goals of the committee and Civic Center Director Natalie McMasters could bring improvements to fruition. With the current fiscal year budget, the county would need to pull possibly $24,000 from reserves or apply the debt to available funds from the county’s remaining American Recovery Plan Act funds.

The $30 million grant coming from Tennessee’s Economic and Community Development states the purpose of the grant “aims to construct and improve digital access through the creation of buildings or rehabilitation of existing facilities. The goal of this program is to enable digital workforce development, virtual health monitoring, virtual education, and broadband access -- all within one building for the community.”