Alma Rotary Club continues community center push

story and photo by Marla Cantrell
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When Alma’s Rotary Club formed in July 2008, the organizers had two goals: outdo Greenwood, the town’s biggest athletic rival, and build a top-notch community center.

“Our initial push was to beat the Greenwood charter club membership numbers,” said Dockey Brasher, who was the Rotary president at the time. “And we did by five or six. When we said that we wanted to beat Greenwood, everybody in the world wanted to join the Rotary.”

Alma’s club ended up with 65 charter members, a record in a four-state area. Thinking big from the start, the group decided to build a $240,000 community center in Alma. Brasher, who was president at the time, didn’t see a lack of funding as a big deterrent.

“We were depending on donations from the community and we were not disappointed,” Brasher explained.

The group knew the city needed the center because they could not find a place big enough to meet. They decided that if they were having a problem, other organizations must be facing the same situation. And if clubs needed a large meeting space, it stood to reason that a community center was also needed by residents holding reunions, parties and even weddings.

So they went to the city leaders. Mayor John Ballentine offered the club the land to build the center, which is adjacent to the water park on Collum Lane, and $50,000 to sweeten the deal.

But then the economy tumbled. Some who had promised donations found themselves scrambling to stay afloat. Brasher, who is vice president at Citizen’s Bank and Trust in Alma, put the plans on the back burner.

Today, things are loosening up for business owners in the Crawford County town of 5,000. That’s good news for the yet-to-be-constructed 4,400-square-foot community center. The plans, donated by Fort Smith architect Jason Myers, have been ready for months. Already the foundation is in place.

“Parker Plumbing donated the rough-in plumbing,” Brasher said. “Triangle Supply donated some of the plumbing supplies, Wilson Brothers Construction donated the pad and site work, Mid-Continent donated the concrete.”

And that’s just the beginning. Brasher said builders in Alma, including Emily Rucker, Charles Crook and Harold Hamm, have committed to helping the Rotary Club members with a sort of commercial barn-raising. When the lumber, also donated, arrives on the site, the builders will walk the Rotarians through the framing process.

Others have pledged support, many from outside the area. It’s an innovative move on the part of the Alma Rotary Club, one that’s gotten attention from its international headquarters.

“Our Rotary Club, as far as we know, is the only one that has ever gone into a joint venture with a city to build a community center for themselves and their community,” Brasher said. “At one of our international meetings, we had another country, I think it was Indonesia, who wanted to donate a projector for us. Some of the other clubs wanted to donate furniture.”

It’s a big project for a club with only $8,000 to its name. But Brasher is not worried, although he does say there is one problem: there is no way to know when the project will be finished. It all depends on when donations come in and how fast volunteers can complete the work.

Brasher sees the center as a way to give back to his hometown. He calls Alma a little known treasure, one that will likely gain recognition once Interstate 49 runs through the small town.

“It’s the crossroads of Crawford County. If they ever get the new interstate put in, it will be a big X on the state’s map. It’s highly overlooked by some of the developers. … They ought to be looking here. Just  look at the school system — that sells potential buyers right off. You can buy a house for considerably cheaper than Fort Smith. You have to drive, maybe 15 or 20 minutes to work in Fort Smith, but it took me that long to drive across town when I lived there.”