Berea City Councilman Jerry Little has asked the Berea Tourism Commission to pitch in $400,000 for the renovation of the Berea City Pool.
Little posed the question last week at the commission’s business meeting, noting that renovations for the pool are expected to cost between $1.5 million to $2 million. Little, who is also chair of the Berea City Council Public Works Committee, asked for the contribution in the hope that it could free up money from the city’s operating budget for road maintenance in city limits.
“We have 70 miles of city streets to maintain. We just signed a contract for $255,823 to mill and pave 11 streets. The total length of those 11 streets is just a mile and a third,” said Little, asking officials to imagine what it costs to maintain the entire 70 miles of streets within city limits. “We need to spend $700,000 or $800,000 a year just to barely keep up maintenance on our streets.” He added the city receives approximately $300,000 annually in road maintenance funds from the state, less than half of what is needed.
In making his request, Little said tourism has already funded significant projects in the city with restaurant tax revenues, which began in 2007. He noted that tourism funded the Silver Creek Bike Park, Chestnut Street Pavilion, Boone Trace Trail, as well as renovation of the Berea Gallery and Event Center, formerly known as the Tolle Building. “I feel tourism has done a good job. You all have made some really good investments in our city,” Little said.
Little asked the Tourism Commission to budget $200,000 for the pool in Fiscal Year 2024-2025, and $200,000 in Fiscal Year 2025-2026. The commission will be reviewing its budget in the coming weeks. “This will free up some extra money for our street maintenance. I really hope you all will think long and hard about this investment,” Little said, adding he believes the spending adjustments will not adversely affect tourism’s overall budget.
Little’s request comes on the heels of a report from Berea Business and Tourism Development Director Donna Angel, which outlined several tourism projects in progress. Tourism is funding the $700,000 renovation of the Berea Gallery and Events Center, which will include spaces for meetings, conferences, receptions, as well as work and LearnShop classroom space. City officials said the facility, which is expected to open this spring, will enable the city to collect revenue for event space rentals and catering fees.
Additionally, Angel noted tourism invested over $80,000 last year in projects like city beautification and holiday decoration, Chestnut Street Pavilion concerts, the Berea Craft Festival, as well as the Spoonbread Festival, the Berea Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade, and weekly Bluegrass music at the Russel Acton Folk Center. The department spent over $100,000 in property maintenance expenses of city facilities last year, Angel added. Additionally, the commission is considering setting aside $1.5 million for renovation of the historic Berea Hotel in Old Town, and $80,000 to replace to the ceramic tile roof and new flooring for the back platform of the Berea Welcome Center.
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