LAURINBURG — Things went around in circles Tuesday when the Laurinburg City Council discussed moving forward on a recreation center.

The task on the agenda was a simple one: to appointment two council members to the subcommittee for a recreation center. The subcommittee would include members from Scotland County commissioners, Board of Education and Scotland Health Care System aimed at working together on the project.

Council member Curtis Leak suggested that Mayor Matthew Block be on the subcommittee, since he was the one who has been pushing for a recreation center, but Block turned down the offer.

“I expressed my opinion at that (January) meeting,” Block said. “I’m all for a rec center, but we’ve been talking with the county and the hospital for a decade and to go back and do the same thing seems like its just kicking the can down the road to me.”

Block explained that he believed a more centralized location that was more of a community center rather than a recreation center was what was best for the city, and the county doesn’t share the same vision. At the earlier meeting, he had suggested each entity having its own center/venue and supporting each other that way.

Council member Andrew Williamson, who has been pushing for the city to work with the other entities for the recreation center, said that the idea needs to be looked at and decided what the best options are.

“I think this is something we need to decide if we want to do or not …,” Williamson said. “If we’re not all interested, I’m concerned that we’re not going to get very far and cause more harm than good.

“I think there’s value in us saying, OK, what can we do?” he added. “But my concern is, if we do this and, being honest Mayor Block, if you’re opposing it publicly, it’s no fun to be trying to do something and the leader is bashing it.”

Block said that his biggest concern is that the suggested location is at the Morgan Complex, rather than in a centralized location for city residents.

“From a city development standpoint, from a community development standpoint, you take a dilapidated two or three block area and put in a community center, I think you’d get a lot more bang for the buck,” Block said. “It’s not just about having a place to play basketball, it’s about giving the community an uplift and more attractiveness.”

Williamson said that was the reason the council needed to decide if they wanted to actually do a recreation center, so that they could potentially add in places like that to consider putting it downtown. But first, he said, everyone had to work together before anything could happen — not just for support of a center but also for funding.

“… if we’re not all working together, that’s the first thing they (potential donors) look at,” Williamson said. “If we’re united and get other groups involved, it’s easier for them to fund us.”

When asked who wanted to be on the committee, both Williamson and council member Mary Jo Adams volunteered, but said they would step back if the mayor or someone else wanted to be on it.

Block and Council member Mary Evans declined.

There are no set plans for another meeting about the rec center.

Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at [email protected]

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Katelin Gandee

Staff writer