Most people surveyed said they have a favorable view of the Cookson Community Center, oppose closing it unless it is replaced and suggest, if it is shut down early, that the city use the savings to take out a loan for its replacement.


An unscientific online survey by the West Branch Times also brought about several comments about the issue, mostly arguing to keep a community center open in the city.

And former Cookson Memorial Home governing board member Ken Fawcett said he was “disappointed” that the city would consider closing the community center less than a year and a half after accepting the donation.

“Why didn’t we hear these concerns two years ago,” when Cookson leaders were still in talks with the city about the gift, Fawcett said. “This is a surprise.”

Fawcett noted that the Cookson home “never made money on its own,” and that it survived for more than 50 years “because of wider community support.”

Of 38 responses to the survey, 16 people opposed closing Cookson for a variety of reasons, 11 favored closing it and 10 wanted a compromise.

Some 25 respondents said they had a favorable view of the center, nine were neutral and three were unfavorable.

For the question “If the city closes Cookson, what should be done next?,” 20 suggested the city use the savings to make payments on a loan to build a new community center.

Some of the comments:

• “Although I don’t use Cookson, the students I teach talk VERY favorably about it,” wrote Jim Calkins. “When I have middle school students write opinion papers, there have always been many who wrote about the lack of recreational activities in West Branch. This year that changed because my students now have a place in West Branch to go.”

• “Lots of planning and discussion before any debt is accrued,” wrote Susan Heilmann. “We use Cookson every other week and would love to continue to have a meeting place like Cookson.”

• “One, can there be some study done into reducing costs at Cookson? Second, ... look into renovating it to make it more user-friendly,” wrote George McCrory. And “consider a fee structure ... from those other than non-profits using the center.”

• “I think there was good intention, but poor timing when it comes to building usage,” Matt Hills wrote. “The Town Hall is available, and there was available land/buildings in town. I would like to see the city purchase the property next to the town hall (entire block from the alley to Main Street) for future fire/community center building. Cookson has great property, and I believe the city could profit from the sale of the property to commercial or residential development. It is too far removed from downtown ...”

Survey respondents said they use Cookson for American Legion, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the food pantry, the Easter Egg hunt, family get-togethers, other organized group meetings and, as pointed out by Brad Larson, to use the telecommunications equipment for remote meetings.

A link to the survey was posted to the West Branch Times Web site last Friday. As of Tuesday morning, there were 38 completed surveys and two incomplete responses. The survey will remain posted through Thursday morning. A summary of the final results will appear in next week’s paper.