Harvey Park District to Rebuild Gloria Taylor Center

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Located a few feet north of Thornton High School on 148th and Broadway in Harvey, this sign stands near the site of the soon to be rebuilt Gloria J. Taylor Center
Located a few feet north of Thornton High School on 148th and Broadway in Harvey, this sign stands near the site of the soon to be rebuilt Gloria J. Taylor Center

by SheRico Jones

This past Thursday, the city of Harveys Park District held its monthly board meeting. One of the key items on the agenda was the re-building of the Gloria J. Taylor Banquet Hall & Recreation Center; which was burned down in the early part of last year.

The Gloria J. Taylor Center, which was located at 14821 Broadway in Harvey, was a supplemental source of income for the city; according to Park District Commissioner Brenda Thompson. The Taylor Center could seat up to 250 people and was available for rental for weddings, parties, repasts and other events. The fire department speculated that the cause of the fire was fireworks but Thompson begs to differ:

I dont believe that, she said. I think it was set on fire. Thats just my opinion.

Two architectural companies, including Linden Group and Cody & Braun gave presentations to the board with the hopes of securing the contract to rebuild Taylor Center. Linden Group gave a presentation, complete with a rough floor plan, but when Cody & Braun was asked by the boards attorney for creative input; a representative of Cody & Braun admitted that he had not visited the Taylor Center site prior to giving the presentation. The board was vocally displeased; fueling the residents disapproval.

How can you make an educated presentation to us and you havent even seen the site one resident demanded?

Later in the meeting, the board motioned and agreed to give the contract to the Linden Group.

According to Thompson, a $700,000 building fund has been established. [That money] is only to be spent for building funds, she stated. The insurance company will reimburse the city for the cost of replacing the building. This meeting was the first step in getting the Taylor Center replaced but no definite timeline has been established yet.

Also on the agenda was a briefing from the Senior Advisory Board. The senior board hosts a wide variety of events in the community including coat drives, shows and parties. They are the basis of the Harvey Park District, Thompson said. The seniors advised the park district board that they need new food carts for their events because the old ones were destroyed in the Taylor Center fire. After the board deliberated, Commissioner Eric Patterson said, I dont like all this back and forth when it comes to our seniors. You guys need a new cart? Well get you one.

On April 5th elections were held and two of the five board members were not re-elected.President Keith Price and Vice President Yassim Ali will be replaced by Nannette Turner and Stafford Owens respectively.

Even though I was not re-elected, Ali stated at the end of the meeting. I will still be around in some capacity. Ali is also the president of The Harvey Little League.

In addition, board treasurer Barbara Moore was re-elected. New board members will be sworn in at the end of this month. Harvey Park District holds its monthly board meetings on the third Thursday of every month. Citizens are encouraged to attend.

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