East Columbus Gym is getting a facelift and some new features.
Columbus City Council voted Tuesday to spend about $22,116 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to enhance the gym, located at 222 Lawrence Drive.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford said the money will go toward making the existing location more eye-catching.
“We’re going to help with the curb appeal of that building,” he said. “A low-maintenance landscaping plan is being put together. We’re also going to put in new signs, and we’re going to repaint the building.”
Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens said he wanted the building painted in purple and gold, which are Columbus High School’s colors.
“When I go to West Point, I see green, representing the Green Wave,” he said. “You go to other cities and you see things like that. I want to do something in East Columbus so it reflects the high school.”
It’s about more than paint, though.
The current site sports the gymnasium itself, as well as a walking track, an outdoor pavilion and a playground. Columbus Recreation Director Greg Lewis said an outdoor stage had been a high-priority wish, and now that’s going to become a reality.
“We’re going to put a stage on the north side of the gym,” Lewis said. “We’re going to put in electrical panels, similar to what’s at Sim Scott Park, where vendors or people at a festival can plug in if they need it.”
Mickens said he wants to bring that area of East Columbus up to the level seen in other areas.
“All I’m trying to do is get the East Columbus facility to look like the Sim Scott facility,” he said. “They got a new building, and we don’t have a new building but at least we can fix up what we got.”
He estimated that between 40 and 50 people use the park daily.
“We get quite a few people out there,” he said. “People walk on the track in the morning and the evening, and there’s kids playing there in the evening. We’ve got people who play soccer, too.”
Earlier this summer, the parking lot was paved, and that has also proved very popular with users.
“I met with the seniors out there, and I don’t use this word lightly, but they were elated,” Lewis said. “People had been picking up rocks and gravel (from the old parking lot) and bringing all that into the gym.”
Mayor Keith Gaskin said he is glad to see the investment.
“These are the types of things we all need to work together on for community enhancement and to bring up the quality of life for our citizens,” Gaskin said.
He also pointed to increased security, including cameras outside the building and on the street nearby.
“East Columbus Gym is slowly coming into its own,” Stafford said. “We’re trying to make it an asset to that side of town.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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