JAY SOWERS / THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Physical education teacher James Coleman sweeps the floor Friday afternoon in the gymnasium at Gilmer McLaurin Elementary School in Natchez after the end of classes.

Archived Story

City looking to borrow school district’s courts

Published 12:03am Saturday, February 16, 2013

NATCHEZ — The players in the City of Natchez’ recreation basketball league could be soon hustling up and down unfamiliar courts.

The children’s league, which has four different age divisions, currently plays its games in the gym behind the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center. But Mayor Butch Brown appeared before the Natchez-Adams County School Board of Trustees Thursday to request the school district allow the city to use its gyms for the basketball league.

Brown said Friday the Martin gym has had little or no maintenance in the last eight to 10 years. A leaky roof, he said, is just one of the problems in the gym.

Recreation Operations Director Wilbert Whittley said roof leaks at the gym have him keeping a mop handy.

“If there’s a real hard rain, we’re in there mopping up the water,” he said.

The city, Brown said, does not have the money to fix the roof and get the gym in the shape it should be for the basketball league.

Whittley said being able to use the school district’s multiple gyms will allow the league to play different games at the same time, instead of spending all day on Saturdays in the Martin gym.

“It would cut down on some of the time we would be in the gym,” Whittley said. “We get there Saturday morning at 8:30 and are there until 4:30. If we had more gyms, we could have the different age groups in different locations at the same time.”

Up until Martin School closed, Brown said, the city’s basketball program operated at different gyms. The city inherited the Martin gym when Margaret Martin School closed.

“This is not reinventing the wheel,” he said. “We’re going back to a previously successful operation.”

Brown said the city’s basketball league would be planned around the school system’s gym use.

“We’re not going to expect them to relinquish their program for ours,” he said.

Brown said his idea is that the city provides the staff for the gyms when the city is using the facilities. He said he assumed the school district would want to provide its own security.

School Board President Wayne Barnett said he believes the school board would be willing to allow the city to use the school gyms if a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two outlining the responsibilities of each entity.

The school district, Barnett said, does not have the funds to provide security, electricity or clean up the gyms when the school district is not using them. Barnett said the school board recognizes the importance of city recreation and wants to work with the city to come to an agreement that benefits both entities.

“We want to be team players,” he said. “We don’t want to make any money off recreation because that’s not what we’re in the business of. We just don’t want to take money out of our budget and spend it on recreation when it should be spent on education.”

Brown said he agreed that a memorandum of understanding should be worked out between the city and the school district. He said he wants to sit down with the school board and work out a deal as soon as possible.

“We need to sit down and figure out what we can afford and what they can afford,” he said. “I would like to do it as soon as possible, realizing that the end of the school year is approaching quickly. Hopefully, we could have the summer to work out the details and be ready for the next time we need the gyms.”

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  • Anonymous

    Can’t fix the depot, ’cause the city is broke; can’t fix anything at the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Building ’cause the city is broke; can’t perform upkeep (mowing and weeding) of the Liberty Road overpass ’cause the city is broke; can’t hold basketball games at the Martin gym ’cause the city is broke; need $15,000 thousand for a rec director for a facility that is not even BUILT yet?- “We’ll think about it.”
    PLEASE, City of Natchez, TAKE CARE OF YOUR FACILITIES! That is in the public’s interest.

  • https://plus.google.com/101785462960818953428/posts Wilson Phillips

    The city must perform maintenance on all the public properties. When they are neglected for years, they tend to get to the point that they become too expensive to fix. Then they become just like the private properties that the city wants to condemn for neglect. This is called gross mismanagement.

  • Anonymous

    I WANNA SHED A LITTLE LIGHT THIS MORNING BEFORE I FORGET. THE LIGHT IS SHINNING BRIGHT ON * ELIZABETH WARREN “. THIS IS ANOTHER POWERFUL LADY. SHE “WILL” PUT WALL STREET IN THERE RIGHTFUL PLACE. WALL STREET AND THE N.R.A. WILL NO LONGER BE TO POWERFUL TO TOUCH. SHE IS A T-R-U-E AMERICAN.

  • Anonymous

    IWANNASHEDALITTLELIGHT ONTHEDDBEFOREISFORGETS….DIDSYALLSEVERSEE THEMOVIE THESHINNNNNING?

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    This is a reflection of the city, county, and the Adams School Board not managing and cutting personal and budgets as they should with the high salaries , benefits, is killing the taxpayers!! Example as that of the convention center that shouldn’t ever been built is sucking the money into a endless pit!! Washington school where the gym roof is half blowed off over the past 10 years of me calling the maintaince department a dozen are so times over the years without success that will probably fall into Hwy. 61 before long!! It is simple people not doing their jobs and waiting for a check!! The three need to sell these properties on bids to the general public to get on the tax rolls for revenue for these have been nothing but liabilities to the beatup tax payers of Adams county!! The city saying they would put up $15,000 and benefits and car for a rec. director a complex I feel is no way in the best interest of the taxpayers!! If the BOS would get out of their padded chairs and get into action the $4 million dollars of uncollected fines would be the thing to get done ASAP and cleaning the justice court out is what taxpayers want done and now!!

  • Anonymous

    They are just trying to move forward, not look back~you are very correct. It is time to sweep out all the old folks sitting around the board rooms, e.g. Alderpersons/Supervisors who have contributed to the neglect in the past, and school board members who don’t have children in the schools. A new attitude toward fixing problems rather than tolerating them while entertaining new expenditures would be a breath of fresh air. Perhaps letting people serve who live outside their jurisdiction (pun intended) should be legalized, e.g. find someone outside this county to do a better job.

  • Anonymous

    Maybe if they get a director the money will be spent in proper fashion to maintain and improve? Cant get any worse than it is. They have the past director car, he retired and they did not replace him nor did the budget go down, where did the car and money go? It is already allocated. Get a director (from out of town with no ties) and see if we can improve.

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    I feel you don’t still understand that the city and county or broke plus the taxpayers dont care for this!! County country folks want our two fire stations ASAP to save peoples lives and homes as they do in the city but we are to far for them so we need the stations closer to us to save our homes as those that have burnt to the ground waiting for a FIRETRUCK and a ATM there at the same time saving peoples lives are more important than a rec. director and rec , complex!!

  • Anonymous

    I agree with you, khakirat. FIRE PROTECTION is of paramount importance, and SHOULD supercede ANY discussions about recreation funding. Is it THAT hard to understand and DO ?

  • Anonymous

    I concur

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