By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — The date is set and the headliner is booked for the grand reopening of the Neosho Civic Center.
The center closed last year for a $3 million renovation and expansion. City officials last week announced that a grand reopening concert has been set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, featuring a performance by Josh Gracin, a fourth-place finalist on the second season of “American Idol.”
Desiree Bridges, Neosho’s communications manager, said Friday that work on the center is more than 90 percent complete. The center now includes a revamped lobby, a commercial kitchen, new restrooms and a support stage area at the rear of the building.
The renovated center is to be a cornerstone of the city’s redevelopment plans for the downtown district, Bridges said. It will be a venue not just for concerts but also for community festivals, group meetings, weddings, reunions and more.
Neosho was designated one of the state’s first Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri, or DREAM, communities. That program aims to streamline access to state assistance in revitalizing downtowns.
“I think it will be a huge anchor (for the downtown),” Bridges said of the expanded Civic Center.
In April 2005, Neosho voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax to pay for capital projects and maintenance on the Civic Center and the Neosho/Newton County Senior Center. One-sixteenth of a cent was designated for the senior center, with the remainder set aside for the Civic Center.
Work on the senior center was completed earlier this year, and the city staged a grand reopening on Aug. 14.
Tickets
Tickets are on sale for the Josh Gracin concert and may be purchased through the city of Neosho’s Web site at www.neoshomo.org. The city also will have a community open house at the Civic Center on Saturday, Sept. 13. The open house will feature guided tours and a dedication ceremony.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Auditorium to reopen
- Local News
-
-
Couple 'scoop out' ice cream business from the past
When 3-year-old Brynlee Rabel tried coconut ice cream for the first time Tuesday, it was love at first taste. “She got the vanilla, but when she tasted my coconut ice cream she had to have it,” said Kayleigh Daugherty, a Joplin resident who wanted Brynlee to share the same experience she had as a little girl when she visited Anderson’s Ice Cream.
-
Missouri National Guard releases records involving soldiers who looted from Wal-Mart
The Missouri National Guard has released records confirming that four soldiers were disciplined for taking merchandise from the ruins of a Wal-Mart store in Joplin one day after the tornado that devastated the city a year ago.
-
Joplin school board awards contract to complete demolition of JHS
The Joplin Board of Education on Tuesday night accepted a bid for finishing tornado-related demolition at the high school.
-
Auditor cites, commission covers potential shortfall in Jasper County sheriff’s budget
The Jasper County Commission on Tuesday approved the transfer of $23,000 onto the Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund available to the sheriff’s office to cover a potential budget shortfall.
-
Joplin METS director requests space for additional ambulance
If all goes like METS Director Jason Smith hopes, this time next year the service will have two ambulances in Webb City, housed in their own station. At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Smith requested that the council allow the Joplin-based Metro Emergency Transport System to rent or lease space at the former public works building, 110 E. Church St.
-
Mike Pound: Food competitions combine to make culinary heaven
It’s such a great idea, you wonder why someone didn’t think of it before. In fact, it’s such a good idea that it’s possible it came about by accident.
-
Mo. court strikes down part of 2008 harassment law
The Missouri Supreme Court has struck down part of a state harassment law enacted after the suicide of a St. Charles County teenager who was teased over the Internet.
-
Cattle rustlers strike again in SW Mo. county
The plague of cattle rustling goes on in southwest Missouri’s Greene County.
Sheriff Jim Arnott says the latest episode occurred sometime Sunday in Walnut Grove. -
Bids sought for Cherokee County water treatment plant
After many delays, construction bids are being sought for a water treatement plant and water tank for the Spring River Public Wholesale Water District No. 19.
-
Dog helps some get through the court process
Sophie, a mutt of a dog with draping ears and dotted brows, is helping people in St. Louis County court tell stories of crime to judges, investigators and attorneys.
- More Local News Headlines
-
