Rayne not giving up on state funding for MLK Center

Since the end of 2013, the city of Rayne has sought funding to build a new Martin Luther King Center through the state Capital Outlay program.
The approval and amount have been bounced around the legislature since then but never making it to the required “Priority 2” or “Priority 1” status that would assure the funding.
Each year, the council is required to adopt a resolution committing a 25 percent match to the state funding and this year is no different.
“The legislature acted on the application during the 2017 session and the project made the vinal version of HB2 as $315,000 in Priority 5 and survived the governor’s line item veto pen,” Tim Mader, engineer, told council members at their August meeting.
“The project has been granted a ‘non-cash’ line of credit by the state Bond Commission and (the state office of Facility Planning and Control) is needing assurance from the city that local funding is in place to match the grant.”
At its current funding level, the city’s match amounts to $105,000.
“That’s not a problem,” said Mayor Charles “Chuck” Robichaux. “We have $108,000 set aside in a special account just for this project.
“In fact, when I saw Rep. (John) Stefanski was here tonight, I was hoping maybe he was bringing the check.”
Stefanski laughed, responding, “I’m just glad it made the cut.”
Robichaux went on to say that the city has recently done some maintenance to the existing Center, repairing a wall and replacing some countertops, “but a new building is long overdue.”
He added that the MLK Center is used almost daily for feeding programs for area elderly.”
The state funding, with the city match, will allow for demolition of the existing building and construction of a new one, either on the same site or at a new location.
“That will be decided at a public hearing,” the mayor said.