WASHINGTON, Ill. – Washington Mayor Gary Manier says Five Points is a “crown jewel” to the city.
“It brings people here, it brings the arts alive and well in our community, with the theater, the Caterpillar Performing Arts Center, provides a great banquet facility,” Manier said. “We use Five Points quite a bit for council meetings that are going to be a little bit bigger.”
Manier says the Washington Area Community Center board had approached the city about seeking some kind of help to assist with upcoming major repair work, including to the HVAC system.
The Washington City Council approved a plan by a 6-2 vote on Tuesday to forgive $650,000 remaining on a loan given to help the facility with some of those costs.
The original $2.1 million loan was given to help cover around $5 million in increased construction costs when the facility was built.
Five Points had been paying between $50,000 to $75,000 annually since 2010 to pay the loan back. There was also a .25% sales tax the city implemented to help with construction costs.
“They’ve been able to upkeep this facility, and it’s amazing that people that, maybe even a month ago, have been in there 16 years later and they say it still looks brand new,” Manier said. “They‘ve done a great job running the facility and we want to make sure that it continues to be the crown jewel of Washington.”
Manier credits multiple taxing bodies in the city; including the library, high school, city, and park district, coming together to assist with making Five Points a reality and having a stake in its success.
He says a public-private partnership like that is one that fellow mayors across Illinois ask him about on how to create similar relationships in their cities.
