Entry 159 of 1039
By Think! Christiansburg On June 25, 2008 at 9:57 AM
Two Good Ideas
At the beginning of this year Councilman Steve Huppert made two very sensible suggestions regarding the Christiansburg aquatic center.

Mr. Huppert suggested placing a sign, to be seen from North Franklin Street, identifying the project. Signs at this HUGE dollar project only identify the companies involved, not who's paying the bills or what's being built. While many Council members and the Town Manager could hardly believe that folks in town didn't know about the aquatic center, it was agreed that a sign was a good idea.

(Note: Very recently a Council member was approached by a constituent who said, "That's a really nice church being built on North Franklin." Many folks still don't know what the project is.)

Mr. Huppert's second suggestion was having a logo designed for the aquatic center. This logo would be used on the project sign and on other materials, to begin to create an identity for the facility.

The Town Manager was involved in those discussions and indicated, at the prompting of Council, that he would task the architect to create a logo and put up a sign. No formal motion was made and no deadline was set.

And Nothing Has Been Done
Six months later we have no project sign, and no logo. The Town Manager has reportedly gotten with the architect on these projects - apparently without results. How much are we paying these people to do the work of the Town?

The Town's web site shows Fall 2008 as the completion date for this much-touted (among a tight circle of people) facility. With "fall" just a few months away, the Town ought to marketing the heck out of this aquatic center.

But wait - the Town's web site isn't up to date. The completion date may now be Spring 2009. A phone call to Town Hall this morning revealed that only Barry Helms and Lance Terpenny know the actual target completion date. Talk about a tight circle of people. (Yes, we already know that the Town doesn't complete projects on time.)

Delay Doesn't Equal Procrastinate (or ignore)
Delayed completion does not negate the need to identify the project and to start raising postive awareness. Like it or not (and many people are in the "not" category) we are going to have this aquatic center at some point. The Town Council and Town Manager work for us - you and me - and they'd better start marketing this facility NOW to get on swim meet schedules two or three years out.

Only if the facility is finished and booked up will Christiansburg have a hope of recovering the very high cost.