In November, Clarkdale’s town government was informed that it had been approved for $325,000 worth of funding from the Northern Arizona Council of Governments through its Community Development Block Grant program, which allocates money to public projects on a rotating basis throughout the area.
Clarkdale had applied in the spring for the CDBG to be used to renovate the Clark Memorial Clubhouse in order to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a result, public meetings of the Clarkdale Town Council and Clarkdale Boards and Commissions — including the Planning Commission, Design Review Board, Parks and Recreation Commission, Board of Adjustment and Public Safety Personnel Retirement Local Board — will be held in the Police Annex at 49 N. Ninth Street starting Wednesday, Jan. 16, and lasting until the renovations are complete.
“We have the architectural plans. They’re almost done,” Clarkdale Utilities and Public Works Director Maher Hazine said. “They should be going out to bid here within a couple weeks. And then depending on the results, on when the contract can get started, we’re anticipating work will be done hope- fully by May.”
This is not the first time that the town of Clarkdale has used CDBG funds to bring the clubhouse into ADA compliance. In 2015, the funds were used to complete a ramp on the outside of the building. With this round of funding, the town intends to renovate the bathrooms in the facility, which includes bringing them into line with ADA regulations, replacing windows that are old or damaged and even adding in new bathrooms. In the current building, there is a men’s bathroom adjoining the men’s lounge and women’s bathroom adjoining the women’s lounge, but with CDBG funding, the town intends to add new bathrooms to ensure both genders have facilities by both lounges.
“All of these are being done, because it is a historical building, in the character to main- tain the historical aspects of the building,” Hazine said. The clubhouse’s original construction dates back to 1926, making it one of the oldest structures in the area.
Depending on the results of the coming bidding round, the town has prepared some additional improvements to the building if there are extra funds due to a low bid. However, according to the rules of the grant, all funds must be used for ADA compliance.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
