The city of Galesburg will issue $5.3 million in bonds to help fund a proposed community center.
A resolution to move forward with the bond issue was approved on a split vote, with council members Kevin Wallace, Dwight White, Sarah Davis, and Jaclyn Smith-Esters voting in favor.
Galesburg has been without a community center since 2013, when the previous one was sold to a private developer to become a brewery and restaurant.
The council previously selected the former Churchill Junior High as the site of a new community center, on the same split vote, with council members Bradley Hix, Wayne Dennis, and Larry Cox voting against it.
But Mayor Peter Schwartzman said the bond issue is not tied to any particular site.
He said the city intends to apply for grants and seek community donations to fund the remainder of the project, which is expected to cost more than $7 million.
The vote came after a round of impassioned public comments.
Andrea Bejarano-Robinson moved to Galesburg from South Carolina in September with their four children between the ages 7 and 16.
“I picked Galesburg out of all the cities in Illinois. I did my research,” Bejarano-Robinson told the council.
They asked the council to issue the bonds because their childhood was changed because of a community center in the Minneapolis area. Without it, Bejarano-Robinson said they were on the verge of joining a gang.
“My mom adopted me, and she had a heart transplant. I had nothing to do. I was a lot like these youth now,” Bejarano-Robinson said. “I didn’t have my mom or my dad available to me because they were working to make ends meet.”
Bejarano-Robinson said Galesburg is already a great community. Now they want a community center their children can be proud of.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
