MANSFIELD — Paul Kemerling listened to repeated questions from Richland County commissioners on Tuesday regarding a proposed $12 million community center on the city’s north side.
The president of the North End Community Improvement Collaborative board then looked at the apple logo on the wall of the commissioners’ meeting room and spoke about the organization’s plans at 486 Springmill St.
“With respect to what this structure can do in this neighborhood … it’s catalytic. It’s catalytic in the same way that you saw your investment in the Westinghouse project. There is opportunity here.
“We understand you serve the entire county. I’m looking at the apple on the wall and I have this metaphor that this neighborhood we’re talking about is the core of (Johnny) Appleseed country,” Kemerling said.
“Unfortunately, the core is oftentimes thrown away. But if you think about it, that’s where the seeds are. Your investment here in this city core is going to yield potentially decades worth of opportunity and growth for the entire county,” said Kemerling, a local businessman who operates Relax, It’s Just Coffee on North Main Street.
NECIC, a local non-profit organization that formed 16 years ago, has asked the county for $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the project. It’s already received approval of $1.5 million in ARPA funds from Mansfield City Council.
In April, commissioners said they are “considering a substantial contribution” toward a projected estimated then to cost around $8 million. There has been no such facility on the north side since the city closed the aging Ocie Hill Community Center in 2020.
NECIC purchased the Springmill Street property, formerly the Imani Activity and Events Center, in the summer of 2021.
Kemerling’s comments came more than an hour into a discussion during which commissioners asked if the new facility would duplicate offerings at the Friendly House; how much NECIC had raised on its own for the project; and what the annual operating budget would look like.
Near the end of the meeting, NECIC founder and Executive Director Deanna West-Torrence was asked if she was frustrated that the issue of duplication of Friendly House services was still considered an issue seven months after the organization announced its plans.
“I think that it indicates something that we can do better and that’s distinguishing ourselves from Friendly House. I wonder if even Friendly House board members understand what we do,” West-Torrence said.
“I feel like we’ve been around long enough for people to know. If people wanna know what our work is, they should look at the north end plan. That’s what we do. And it’s not what the Friendly House does,” she said.
She provided City Council similar information in May.
“They operate camps, a daycare, after-school programs and all that. We have minority business (assistance), we grow food, we put people to work, we do workforce and career development. So we are a totally different type of organization,” she said five months ago.
The new community center would also provide space for a medical facility through Third Street Family Health Services, providing care in a largely unserved area.
Commissioner Cliff Mears led the questions about reported duplication of services provided by Friendly House, which opened more than 100 years ago.
“You’re proposing a basketball court, which Friendly House has … an art studio, which Friendly House has … a theater, which Friendly House has … classrooms, which Friendly House has … kitchen and a cafeteria, which Friendly House has … conference rooms, which Friendly House has … office space, which Friendly House has … you’re proposing a fitness center, which Friendly House has … that’s three-tenths of a mile from your proposed site,” Mears said.
The commissioner said Friendly House executives told him NECIC had not consulted with their organization on its plans.
“That’s concerning to me because so many of the facilities that you’re looking at building already exist a six-minute walk away. What’s more concerning to me are some of the comments that were made by the management of Friendly House, such as, if that is built, this community cannot support both facilities,” Mears said.
“As a commissioner, we have a finite amount of ARPA resources and we’re trying to do the most good for the most people,” he said.
West-Torrence told Mears she was “shocked” to hear his comments because she had met with Friendly House officials and didn’t hear similar concerns.
“What we are proposing for ARPA funding in no way is a duplicative of anything that Friendly House is doing. I’ve been very intentional about trying to show that there are two separate parts of the building and where we would like for ARPA funds to be invested.
“And that is in the workforce side, the staffing side, the health clinic side, the minority business assistance center side. None of those things are offered at Friendly House.
“I would also say we have certainly reached out to Friendly House. We have partnered with Friendly House on children’s gardening programs, on things that are teaching Garden. We’ve given them small grants, we’ve assisted them in many ways. So I’m kind of surprised at that.
“And when they were not able to deliver services this summer, we reached out to them, offered to help them find staff for their programs, which they weren’t able to run because they didn’t have the capacity,” West-Torrence said.
“We are absolutely two different organizations,” she told commissioners.
The Friendly House on North Mulberry Street and the Ocie Hill facility on North Bowman Street both operated in the north end together for decades. In response to a question, Mears acknowledged the latter facility was closed due to the condition of the building.
“It was maintaining and repairing. It was not a lack of activity. But it had a substandard operating budget. There wasn’t enough to keep it going in terms of activity,” said Mears, who was on City Council at the time.
“I looked at the numbers and the numbers indicated it was not sustainable and that’s why it closed,” he said.
West-Torrence pointed out the Ocie Hill site provided rental space to Richland County Job & Family Services, Richland Public Health, Richland County Mental Health Board, Catalyst Life Services and the local Youth & Family Council.
“But rents were not nearly sufficient to cover (costs),” Mears said.
West-Torrence responded, “Absolutely not. That was a building built on love for the community and just people trying to figure out how to do it the right way, how to do the right thing and offer services.”
The discussion prompted Banks to ask for the planned operating budget for the center, something he said he asked for in May. NECIC officials said the budget was not yet complete as contracts with prospective tenants were still being negotiated.
“My words (in May) were I can’t consider this until I see a budget, how you’re going to sustain it. I can’t support it without a staffing thing. How can you add all this and not add staff?” Banks asked.
NECIC officials said some staff would be added and would be included in the budget, a plan they said would be available in the next couple of weeks.
Commissioner Tony Vero said he recognized the value of public investment to the city’s north side, “particularly when we’re looking at sizable investments in the southern part of our county.”
However, Vero said, there are concerns from the Friendly House perspective and that he didn’t understand the communication “disconnect” between the two entities. He also pointed out no other non-profits had requested such a sizeable chunk of ARPA funding.
“It’s not vitriolic from their side. The sense I got was, ‘Hey, we’ve been here forever and we didn’t know this was coming,'” Vero said. “I am still tentatively supportive.”
West-Torrence said she wasn’t sure how to rectify perceptions regarding Friendly House and the center planned by NECIC.
“I don’t know how to fix this. We are two different agencies and we do two different things. And I feel like the north end deserves more than a 1912 building. And I would think that the Friendly House would feel that, as well,” she said.
Vero pressed NECIC officials if the project had gained any other firm financial commitments, reminding those present of ARPA deadlines.
ARPA funds must be decided by the end of 2024 and all projects using those dollars must be complete by the end of 2026 under federal guidelines that accompany the money.
“I would say, beyond the city, not yet. We’ve been doing all the pre-solicitations, talking at foundations, getting them interested. Most of the proposals will go in the next couple weeks,” West-Torrence said.
At the end of the 80-minute meeting, Vero said commissioners would schedule NECIC officials to come back to meet with the board in December or January to look again at the project.
