Historic school to become recreation center

A historic Plymouth-Canton school will be repurposed and transformed into a state-of-the-art recreation center after the school district sold the building for $3.3 million to a grassroots organization.

After nearly a century, Central Middle School will close at the end of the 2014-15 academic year.

Organizers said construction on the Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex (PARC) could begin in 2017 and be competed in 2018 or 2019. The school, at 650 Church St., sits on about 18 acres.

The Plymouth-Canton Community Schools board voted unanimously Feb. 10 to accept the PARC committee's offer to purchase the school and the surrounding property, including the football field and the land that houses the Miracle League of Plymouth special-needs baseball fields. The PARC committee is composed of community leaders, sports teams, residents, nonprofits and policymakers.

"We now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform this 100-year-old historic facility into an arts, education and athletic complex that will serve the Plymouth community for decades to come," said PARC representative Don Soenen, who has been the face of the project. "Plymouth is a wonderful community with a great quality of life. We can now enhance that quality of life."

The fitness center will be equipped with exercise equipment and classes, as well as court time for basketball and volleyball. Additional amenities will be offered, too, based on feedback from the community.

The complex also will be home to an 800-seat performing arts theater, a senior citizen center, teen center and more.

More than a year ago, the Plymouth-Canton board passed a resolution saying it would negotiate exclusively with PARC for one year. That year passed without an agreement and, in late December, the board ended the exclusive arrangement.

But the sides kept negotiating and, with sole financing coming from Mark Malcolm and Patty Malcolm of Plymouth and their corporation, Malcolm Central, the deal finally got done.

Mark Malcolm, who with his wife is active in preserving Plymouth's history, called the deal a "critically important milestone" for the district and the community.

"We intend to do everything we can to preserve and re-purpose Central Middle School and include it in a charitable arrangement with PARC ... for the enduring benefit of the Plymouth community," Malcolm said.

Space at PARC would be used by groups that now use Central facilities — youth football, soccer and other sports programs, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools community education, the Miracle League of Plymouth — as well as other groups that have shown interest, such as the Michigan Philharmonic.

Board members hailed the deal as an "everyone wins" agreement.

"In a world where we very seldom get win-win situations, I think this is a great opportunity for the district to get fair market value and for the community to have a property where it can do the things it wants to do," trustee Mark Horvath said.

In the short term — two or three years — PARC and its tenants would be able to sustain the facility, but in the long term, organizers are looking toward a joint Plymouth-Plymouth Township public taxing authority that would raise money to remodel and rebuild the complex and run it as a recreation and arts center for both communities.

Soenen, a township resident, said PARC would approach the township board again and that city and township voters should decide. Voters would have a say on any tax proposal put forth by a joint PARC authority.

Soenen said the project's time line is at least 12 months behind what was originally proposed. The group, he said, will seek more community input, develop a business plan and an economic impact study and move to the design phase.

Contact Katrease Stafford: 313-223-4759 or kstafford@freepress.com