Published: November 21, 2008 12:09 am         

Park Board to offer longer community center lease

TERRE HAUTE — Instead of a one-year lease, any not-for-profit agency selected to lease Terre Haute’s Booker T. Washington Community Center starting in 2009 will have a long-term contract under new guidelines for proposals approved Thursday.

The new guidelines by the Terre Haute Park Board allow for a five-year contractual lease.

“It was brought to our attention that it is difficult for an organization, and in this case, multiple organizations, to plan long-term when they are unable to determine if they are going to be in the same facility for a long period of time,” said Richard J. Shagley II, a Park Board member.

“By offering a five-year lease, it gives an organization greater opportunity to plan for the long term when it comes to applying for grants and looking for additional funds,” he said.

The board approved the guidelines for proposals and is now accepting proposals until 4 p.m. Dec. 19. The proposals must be submitted to the Terre Haute Park Department office at 1110 Girl Scout Lane in Fairbanks Park. The Park Board could award a contract by late December, Shagley said.

The city’s current lease, with CHANCES for Indiana Youth, expires April 1, 2009.

Brandon R. Halleck, executive director of CHANCES, said that agency will submit a proposal for a five-year contractual lease. The organization subcontracts space at the community center to Community Alliance and Services for Young Children (formerly called 4C) and Minority Health Coalition of Vigo County.

“So far it has been a wonderful transition to move to the Booker T. Washington Community Center,” Halleck said. “The agencies housed there — CASY and the Minority Health Coalition, the [city’s] human relations department along with the Park Department — have been working very well together and a lot has been going on.”

Halleck said CHANCES holds a summer camp and provides art and theater programs through Indiana State University. In addition, Net Literacy, an Indianapolis-based not-for-profit, recently donated five new computers to the community center.

“We were also able to step up during the June flooding and help with offering with disaster relief,” Halleck said.

John L. Wright, Park Board president, said the community center, 1101 S. 13th St., “is a very vital part of the city of Terre Haute and very necessary in that neighborhood and in that area and we feel that an organization can utilize it and run it a little bit more efficiently than the city park and recreation [department].”

General specifications under the new guidelines include providing an organization’s profile; financial information; a minimum of five references; and documentation of not-for-profit status with most recent Internal Revenue Service annual report.

Also, narrative statements about community programming; qualifications; and detailed explanation of specific programs. A contract also requires insurance comprehensive policies covering bodily injury liability and property damage liability of at least $700,000 per person and occurrence and at least $5 million in any one accident.

The agency that obtains a contract must pay $250 a month for utilities and $250 a month for any sublease.

The Park Board will provide four part-time staff members to supervise the gym and kitchen and two other full-time employees. The Park Board also approves any agency for a sublease.

In awarding a contract, the Park Board “will evaluate credentials and experience of an agency, staff and board; financial stability, sources of support, and ability to maintain financial stability to provide desired services; ability to meet general specifications and agreement to contractual obligations; and quality of suggested potential programs and adaptability of proposal to the board for the desired use of the center,” according to the approved guidelines for proposals.

Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.