By Per Peterson
Tracy City Administrator Erik Hansen was direct at last week’s community center committee meeting in saying there is no way the City’s budget would allow the construction of two new buildings.
“Let’s say you build a new building or remodel something for a senior center — you will never get a community center, it won’t happen,” Hansen told committee members gathered in the basement of the Tracy Public Library.
It was at that point that the Veterans Memorial Center became more of a player in the conversation. Hansen said there is, at a minimum, $1.2 million in deferred maintenance at the VMC/City Hall. These are issues the City can’t afford to fix, and one plus of adding onto the structure would be that some of those issues could be addressed with new construction — in a sense, two birds could be taken care of with one stone.
“It’s an opportunity to fix some of the problems (at the VMC) at the same time,” Hansen said.
If the VMC building is chosen as a new home for seniors, the renovation would be extensive. Tracy Area High School Activities Director Bill Tauer asked if parts of the building would be gutted, or if new additions would be added.
“Any or all those things could happen,” Hansen said.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.