May 18—GOOD HOPE — The city of Good Hope was awarded a $1.3 million dollar grant to construct multi-use facility which will double as a community storm shelter.

When reached by phone Tuesday, mayor Jerry Bartlett said the new facility will be used much like a civic center with the added benefit of providing ample space for emergency shelter.

“We’ll let people rent it out for events and use it as a venue for weddings, birthday parties and things like that, but it will also be a 300-person storm shelter,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett said former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill played an instrumental role in assisting the city secure the USDA grant. The city enlisted Waggoner Engineering, Inc. — Merrill currently works as the firm’s director of public policy and strategic markets — to provide services for the project Monday, May 13.

Bartlett met with representatives from Waggoner and the USDA on Thursday, May 16, to discuss the project and while the final location of the facility has not been finalized, two locations are currently at the top of the list. The first is a seven-acre parcel on Beechgrove Road, recently purchased by the city, and the second is adjacent to the new park located near the city’s baseball fields.

The council also approved to spend $137,000 with Lower Brother, Inc. for the construction of four pickleball courts and one basketball court at the park. The cost will cover fencing, goals, nets, surfacing and other related expenses. Bartlett said he was unable to provide an exact date as to when the courts would be ready for public use other than during the summer months.

“It’s one of this summer’s projects. Everything is already finalized, we are just waiting on the people to complete it. As soon as they can build it, that’s when we’re getting it. We hope it will be completed during the next month or so,” Bartlett said.

In other business the council:

Announced that construction on the Love’s travel center located, at the I-65 305 exit, was set to begin Monday, May 20. Bartlett said construction is estimated to be completed in time for the store to open by the end of November.