BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org
CANEY — A retired Caney couple on Monday announced plans to build a community center/teen center at the corner of First and Ridgeway streets.
Retired Caney physician Robert Moore and his wife, Betty, told Caney city councilors of their desire to build a community center that not only will house a large room for civic club meetings and social gatherings but also a facility for teenagers to enjoy after-school and weekend activities.
It’ll be a facility that solves two problems for the Caney community, Robert Moore told the council: it’ll provide a much-needed space for civic clubs to hold dinner meetings, and it’ll give kids a place to hang out when not in school.
“Betty and I have had thoughts about this type of facility for 20 to 25 years,” said Robert Moore at Monday’s Caney City Council meeting. “Next summer will mark our 50th year in Caney, and this will be our legacy for Caney.”
Robert Moore said no tax dollars will be used in the facility’s construction. All money will come from their own pockets, he said, adding that they have budgeted $150,000 for the facility.
The Moores said that once the center is erected, they envision deeding the facility to the Caney Community Education Foundation for long-term operation and management.
The Moores said they have purchased the vacant property at the northeast corner of Ridgeway and First streets. They had planned to buy the available properties in the south half of the entire block but have been unable to buy one vacant residential property and could not acquire the former Kerr-McGee gas station property. An Oklahoma City-based property currently owns the former gas station property and was not willing to release it for sale because of liability issues involving the underground petroleum storage tanks, he said.
Construction of the center is expected to begin in the coming months, and Robert Moore told councilors he hoped to use the services of USD 436 in the center’s construction. Moore met with the USD 436 Board of Education on Sept. 14 to see if the construction trades class at Caney Valley High School could assist in the center’s construction. The board indicated it was willing to offer the service to the Moores.
The site of the proposed center will be a major improvement to that neighborhood, the Moores said. The center sits halfway between the Lincoln Memorial Elementary School and Caney Valley Jr.-Sr. High School.
The services that could be made available to youths at the center include video games, a computer laboratory, weight room, concession stand, and possibly a hot tub, the Moore said.
City councilors expressed their overwhelming desire to assist the Moores with their project.
“Whatever the city can do to help, it will be done,” Mayor Dale McBride said. “This sounds like a great gift to the community.”
