It was a lovely day for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site where the Community Center will be built on Martin Luther King Drive in Elizabethtown
ELIZABETHTOWN — Attendees and officials had a blast on Wednesday while celebrating the advancements of Elizabethtown at the groundbreaking for the new Community Center.
The Town of Elizabethtown was awarded $2,575,000 to design and construct the Center through the Community Building Block Grant – Neighborhood Revitalization. A second grant will be used to improve sidewalks and add decorative lighting to make the area safer and pedestrian friendly.
Town Manager, Dane Rideout, explained at the ceremony that Elizabethtown competed at the national level to be one of 0 areas nationally that would receive the resources to service “areas that were disadvantaged by infrastructure projects mainly by DOT.” Rideout then continued, saying that “there were 40 locations in the entire United States and only two locations selected in the state of North Carolina. One was Charlotte, and the second was Elizabethtown.”
Rideout also gave acknowledgment to town and other local government officials in attendance for the work they’re doing, stating that “it’s easy when you have leadership that’s all working together, and that’s not infighting because we’re all working toward a common goal.”
E.L. Robinson Engineering is one of the entities attached to the project. They are also currently involved with work on the wastewater treatment facility in Bladen County. Rideout also gave praise and thanks to the person he calls “the driving force.”
“Ms. Libby Smith worked for the Department of Commerce and a couple of other state agencies, and she truly has a passion, a vision, and a drive to leverage state and federal dollars to get after rural economic development,” said Rideout.
Also in attendance was Kenny Flowers, Assistant Secretary for Rural Economic Development, who spoke about the project and what it means for the Bladen area, and for other small and often overlooked communities throughout North Carolina.
“North Carolina has been named the best state to do business in the country. That’s because we invest across the state, community by community, to make a difference, and your work here is a part of that investment a part of why we will continue to be the best state to do business in the country,” said Flowers during his speech.
It’s apparent that county officials are working to give Bladen a boost. From the growth seen at Bladen Community College, the building of the Community Center, the focus on revitalizing surrounding streets to be safer for pedestrians, and the addition of flight classes at the Curtis L. Brown airport, there are clear steps being taken to increase opportunities in the area.