Community input sought on Parks and The Centre

Community input and feedback continues to be sought through a series of public forums intended to allow citizens an opportunity to give input on recreation programming; input on future City of Rolla park needs; capital improvement projects (long-term and short-term) and ways to fund these projects.

The third and final public forum hosted by the City of Rolla, Parks and Recreation Department and The Centre will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Catholic Newman Center located at 1607 North Rolla Street (across from the Missouri S&T Electrical Engineering Building).
  If you are unable to attend the forum on Oct. 26 but would like to provide input and feedback, please feel free to pick up a comment card either at The Centre or Parks and Recreation Department, located at 1200 N. Holloway Street, or by downloading the card on the City’s Website at http://www.rollacity.org/events.shtm#forums. Additional information regarding the public forums, and park sales tax history can also be viewed on the City’s Website at the above link. For additional information regarding the forums, please contact the Rolla Parks and Recreation Department at 341-2386.

The City is also moving forward with the formation of Rolla’s Sesquicentennial Celebration Planning Committee, which will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. at Rolla City Hall, 3rd Floor Conference Room. The purpose of the planning committee, which was recently approved by the Rolla City Council, is to discuss and plan the various activities and events that will be held in conjunction with the City’s Sesquicentennial Celebration on Saturday, June 4, 2011. The City’s 150th birthday (date of incorporation as a municipality) is officially Jan. 25, 2011, but City staff thought it would be more advantageous to celebrate the City’s sesquicentennial during the weekend of Rolla’s Route 66 Summerfest held the first weekend of June in downtown Rolla.

History continues to play a vital role in Rolla’s heritage as is reflected in the Historic Walking Tour of Rolla (37 historic signs in the downtown area), the restored Frisco Caboose located across from City Hall on 9th Street, the massive 1501 Frisco Engine located in Schuman Park, the old Phelps County Courthouse (one of only two courthouses in the state that are pre-Civil War era), the Dillon Log Cabin that serves as a museum run by the Phelps County Historical Society, the old Phelps County jail, old wooden Main Street bridge, Hotel Edwin Long (now Phelps County Bank), and many other artifacts and buildings maintained and preserved by the Phelps County Historical Society. I will continue to keep the community updated on the ideas and plans generated by Rolla’s Sesquicentennial Celebration Planning Committee, and I look forward to sharing more about this event with you in the future.

In closing, I encourage you to take advantage of the City’s 12-mile-long pedestrian bike path system, including the newly constructed Deible Loop Pedestrian Bike Path. The fall colors are getting more vibrant every day, and spending time outdoors among the City’s parks and trails is a great way to enjoy the Missouri Ozarks. Have a great week.