Many years ago the town acquired the old Lee Lumber property on W 1st Street. Shortly after there were ideas of making it a park or building a community building. The years went on and the town purchased several used buildings with intentions to erect them on this property at some future date. In the meantime, Richard Simunek purchased the adjoining land to the south and wanted to donate it to the town. Many years passed and nothing happened, Simunek proposed building a community building and donating the land he owned to the town but it never got off the ground. It was determined that the 2 used buildings the town bought needed a great deal of work and would be best suited for storage buildings, not for public use.
About a year and a half ago the Hennessey Board of Trustees approved a plan from All About Hennessey to create the “Discover Hennessey” program that would oversee improvement projects and promote Hennessey.
This week the long-awaited pavilion is now underway. Jack Quirk, with All About Hennessey, said, “This is becoming possible with a great deal of help and donations from our community. There is no way this project could become a reality with just town funding.” Last Thursday, August, 31st F5 Construction owned by David and Katrina Fuksa donated their services to prepare the site for the fill dirt to elevate the site. The 800 cubic yards of fill dirt was donated by Lightle Sand & Construction and was delivered by Dollar Trucking. David Fuksa said, “We need this much fill to make this sight drain property.”
The next step will be constructing the concrete piers that will support the building. These will be installed by Daniel Construction.
Quirk said, “To date, over $90,000 in services have been donated by F5 Construction, Lightle Sand & Construction, Dollar Trucking, Daniel Construction, Hennessey Metal Buildings, and Richard Simunek.”
It is important to note that this is a multi-phase project that will continue as more companies and individuals step forward to help with the cost of completing it. So far Phase One is fully funded and includes erecting a 50×100 pavilion with open sides. Phase two will include adding 25-foot additions to each side making the total structure size 100×100. Phase 3 will include a concrete floor. Additional phases would include closing in the building and adding restrooms, kitchen, HVAC, etc. If you have the means and would like to help bring this project to completion please contact Jack Quirk at Jack@KJFilmWorks.com.
Quirk said, “We are very fortunate to have such a high quality of local contractors that are willing to come forward and support our community.”
