CRC on track to open in March

December 30, 2011

CRCold.jpg [2]

This photo from November shows workers preparing the now-completed walls of the CRC.

PLYMOUTH — Construction on the Community Resource Center in Plymouth is coming along nicely, according to board members’ reaction during a walk-through tour Tuesday.
“I’m just ecstatic, I couldn’t say anything negative at all,” said board of directors vice president Ralph Winters after the tour.
The large building off of Jefferson Street will serve as a place for various social service agencies to call home after construction is completed at the end of March. Funded by a $2.7 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Affairs department and other donations from citizens and local entities, the CRC is a project that many people in the area have been working toward for quite some time. Ron Liechty, president of the board of directors, said that the idea was dreamed up by his longtime friend, the late Kent Guild, and himself over breakfast more than 20 years ago.
“We tried to come up with ideas that were good for Plymouth, and this was one of them,” said Liechty.
The CRC is intended to increase usability of social services for county residents by offering more than one service in the same central location.
“Social service agencies can focus on their mission, rather than their building,” explained board member Jerry Nikitas.
Other benefits include networking opportunities for the agencies as well as communal use of space such as conference rooms and employee restrooms. Currently, agencies committed to move into the CRC include WIC, Center Township Trustees, REAL Services, and the Marshall County Housing Authority. Other groups are negotiating leases, and the building could house up to 12 different organizations, depending on their space requirements.
“It’s a beautiful story — a dream is coming true,” said board member Mary Wood. “(The CRC) is something that will help people not waste their time (traveling to different buildings) or waste the time of people who are trying to help them.”
Most of the exterior of the three-story building is completed, and workers are now focusing on the inside. One of the interior features is a skylight that will allow sunlight to penetrate all three floors.

To see a video tour of the CRC, visit www.thepilotnews.com [3] and go to video feeds at the bottom of the homepage.