Concept illustration of the new Community Center
Courtesy of Terri Dennison
ELIZABETHTOWN — The Town of Elizabethtown is inviting the Bladen County public to the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Community Center taking place at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
In a media alert from late last week, the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce announced that the guest speaker for the much-anticipated event will Assistant Secretary Kenny Flowers of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Rural Economic Development Division.
The Groundbreaking ceremony will take place in the location at which the Community Center will be constructed. The building Community Center will be constructed in New Town, a section of Elizabethtown made up mainly of Black and African American residents. It which will be located on Martin Luther King Drive between Durham and Mill Streets.
The Center will be 11,000 square feet and has been designed to meet the needs of Bladen residents. Terri Dennison with the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce stated in last week’s media alert that the Center will include “a new playground, indoor event space, multipurpose full-size playing surface with bleachers, locker rooms, commercial kitchen, meeting offices and substantial parking.”
With New Town being just outside the area of Elizabethtown containing restaurants, grocery stores, and gas stations, many residents can be seen walking down Martin Luther King Drive at various times through the day and night. It’s incredibly convenient to be close enough to town to walk, but can also be extremely dangerous. Much of the section of Martin Luther King Drive around the Community Center is without sufficient sidewalks and lighting, making the area a potential danger for pedestrians.
In collaboration with engineering consultant Paul Mattox, Libby Smith and E.L. Robinson Engineering, the Town of Elizabethtown was awarded $2,575,000 to design and construct the Center through the Community Building Block Grant that focuses on Neighborhood Revitalization. A second grant, however, will be used to make the area around the Community Center safer for pedestrians through the installation of decorative lighting and the improvement of Martin Luther King Drive’s sidewalks.
Members of the Elizabethtown Community Center Board of Directors will be introduced during the ceremony, and other presentations will be made.
The Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Elizabethtown would like the public to be aware that MLK Dr, Durham Street and Mill Street around the site will be closed from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on April 20.