PERRY COUNTY OPENS NEW FACILITY

Glenn Graham calls the new Perry Park Center amazing. In fact, he thinks all of Perry County is pretty amazing.

Graham is president of the Perry County Multi-Purpose Center Commission, a group overseeing development of the park complex.

The Perry Park Center opens May 1. Following a short ceremony, the door will open and the facility will be open for all county residents to use, free of charge, May 1 and 2.

The event culminates a five-year joint effort of Perry County and Perryville. In 1996, Perry County voters approved a half-cent sales tax to pay for the $9.5 multipurpose building.

"If you haven't seen it, it's hard to imagine," Graham said. "I get cold chills thinking about it."

The facility includes a new library. The previous library had been in an old quonset hut.

"This is a beautiful library with a separate genealogy section and computers. It has windows all around," Graham said.

The facility also has a 417-seat auditorium.

"It's spectacular," Graham said. "It's a clamshell-style auditorium with padded seats, a flying stage and an orchestra pit. We have dressing rooms with showers, a green room and a loading dock."

The facility has a gymnasium with two basketball courts and bleachers. The gymnasium can also be used for events like boat shows, antique shows, and home and garden shows.

A walking track, racquetball courts, a weight room and aerobics room are also part of the facility.

"We also have an indoor pool," Graham said. "It's beautiful with big wooden arches in the ceiling. We have a water slide that's 20 feet high and goes into the pool."

A child-care center is available while people use the center.

"This is right uptown for Perryville," Graham said. "When people see this, I don't think they will believe it. Even the construction crews commented that this was the best facility of this type they had seen."

The Perryville Parks and Recreation Department will manage the facility. User fees are the same for all city and county residents.

"It is a county-city project," Graham explained. "The people in Perry County are really to be commended. They passed it the first time through and saw the potential."

"I've always been amazed at the progressiveness of people here," Graham said. "Perry County is a great place."

The sales tax to fund the project was approved for 20 years, at which time three-eighths of the half-cent sales tax would retire. That portion is designated to pay off construction. The other eighth-cent will be used for expenses and will be imposed perpetually.

Graham said projected increases in sales tax revenues may mean that the debt will be paid off in less than 20 years.

"That will be quite an accomplishment for a project of this magnitude," he said.