Nov 16, 2017 3 min read

The Main Pavilion in Washington Park has a brand new roof just in time for winter weather, moving the Washington Rotary Club’s renovation of the pavilion into phase two.

City computer systems coordinator Lynn Galluze said the project has been a joint effort between the Rotary and the city. The new roof, which was phase one of the project, was funded through a $200,000 grant from the Local Share Account, funded from the county’s portion of slots revenue at The Meadows Casino.

She said since the roof cost just $117,000 of that money, the remaining $83,000 will be used to renovate the restrooms.

“Once we took the old roof off there wasn’t a lot of damage so that saved us a lot of money,” Galluze said. “The bids came in lower than we thought they would.”

She said Rotary is asking for additional LSA funding for phase two of the project, sandblasting and painting.

Rich Podgurski, president of Rotary, said members have also done quite a bit of fundraising for the project, which began two years ago in anticipation of the Rotary’s 100th anniversary next June. The club decided to try to raise $100,000 in honor of the anniversary.

“One of Rotary’s charters is to build up the community for people and families living a better life,” Podgurski said. “We really believe that the pavilion is kind of a benchmark, a memorial to Washington and a place for families to get together and have a good time.”

Podgurski said they’ve “raised the bulk” of the $100,000 and that the total cost of the pavilion project is about $800,000.

“We have the money in hand that we’ve committed to,” he said. “Admittedly, we do need a lot of grants in order to get this done. We never saw this as a one-year project.”

Podgurski said that “if things go really well,” the project could be finished by this time next year. Depending on when the grant money is available, it could be finished in 2019.

Washington Mayor Scott Putnam said the city has also been seeking grants from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the pavilion project.

“The Rotary can’t be thanked enough,” he said. “They have taken the proverbial bull by the horns.”

The city also plans to improve the Stone Pavilion in the park by putting in new bathroom stalls and changing the lighting to LED lights.

Galluze said that will be a much smaller-scale project that will be funded through the Washington Park Development Fund.

“We just wanted to spruce everything up there so that it presents well to the public,” she said.