Logansport holds public hearing on $750,000 CDBG application to repair exterior of Memorial Center

City officials and community advocates presented a public hearing Monday on an application the city plans to submit to the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to fund exterior historic renovation of the Logansport Cass County Memorial Center.

Tim Carson of the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council told the council the OCRA public facilities program uses federal CDBG dollars and that the maximum award for historical renovation of a public facility is $750,000. He said the city is seeking the full $750,000 and that “a local match of at least 10% of the total project cost is required,” with at least 5% of the match in cash.

Carson explained eligibility rules and national objectives under the CDBG program and said the project qualifies under the program's spot slum-and-blight objective. He walked the council through the grant timeline: a proposal due date of April 17, a second public hearing to finalize the budget, application submission on June 20 and awards expected between August and September.

Members of the Friends of the Memorial Center and other local residents spoke in favor of the grant application. Malcolm Jarrell, who identified himself as a member of the Friends group, described the building's condition and uses and urged action: “In round numbers, it's gonna cost about $3,000,000 to fix the building up,” and he said the exterior work covered by the OCRA application represents about one-third of that total. Jarrell said the city had already funded a new roof and environmental testing, and he asked the council to pursue the CDBG match and other support.

Other public speakers described the Memorial Center's civic history and community uses. Mercedes Brew said, “Memorial Center should be saved because it is Logansport's only civic center,” and Jim Breaux and Bill Bauman recounted personal memories and urged the council to pursue funding. Jarrell, Brew and others noted structural problems including wood rot, missing windows, masonry deterioration and lead paint tests; Jarrell said recent interior inspections found birds and water infiltration that require immediate work.

Carson provided the grant-team estimate that, based on American Community Survey data for the city, approximately 54.1% of the local population qualifies as low- and moderate-income and that roughly $405,750 of the requested $750,000 would be spent to benefit LMI individuals. He also said the local non-CDBG match was estimated at $161,000 and that those nonfederal funds are planned to come from Memorial Center local funds already identified by the city.

Speakers including council members encouraged further public comments and letters of support; city staff said letters could be submitted to the mayor's office and would be collected for the application. No final council action was recorded at the hearing; presenters and members of the Friends group said they would proceed with the April 17 and June 20 application steps.