Now that the

Peachtree City Council has given the go-ahead for the expansion of the

Gathering Place, recreation officials are preparing to send out a second

round of bids for the project.

Recreation

officials want to use the three-room structure to add more programming

for seniors, which is the main mission of the Gathering Place. The building

is also rented out to individuals for private gatherings, particularly

at night and on weekends.

The expansion

will allow the city to offer more programs such as cooking demonstrations,

a foster grandparenting program and simple woodworking, said Gathering

Place director Janet Werner. Those are some of the programs requested

use the Gathering Place and those who don't.

Another popular

request has been for a resource center for grandparents who keep their

grandchildren for short periods of time so they can have access to games,

books and other child-related material to nurture the youths and keep

them entertained, Werner said.

The expansion

will also create more room for current activities, Werner said.

Recent trends

show that Peachtree City should begin offering more night time programs

for seniors, Werner said. Recent evening parties for Halloween and New

Year's Eve were extremely popular and since participants paid a small

entry fee they cost the city nothing, Werner said.

"A lot

of people don't want to go home and watch TV," Werner said. "We're

just trying to meet their requests and to do so we need to keep changing."

Recreation

officials also hope to appeal to older adults who don't currently patronize

the Gathering Place, said Randy Gaddo, the city's director of leisure

services. With approximately 1,000 regular users in a city of 33,000 people,

"We know there are a lot more older adults out there," Gaddo

said.

The expansion

will also allow the Gathering Place to take advantage of more volunteers,

Werner said.

The $249,000

originally planned for the expansion project was in the city's budget

for this year, and bids were sought for the project. But the funds were

frozen as council planned for a hit in revenues due to the slowdown in

the economy. Now that the city's revenues aren't as bad as originally

expected, the funds have been thawed.

The catch will

now be in the rebidding process. The lowest of seven bidders the first

time around bid $345,000 to build the 2,000 sq. ft. expansion.

The project

is scheduled to be discussed at the annual City Council retreat March

15-16. Unfortunately, the bids won't be back in by then, Gaddo said.

The expansion

also includes a basement area which could later be expanded into programming

space if necessary, Gaddo said.

"Our goal

is to keep it at the original scope," Gaddo said, adding "we

may have to go back for more money."

Hopes are that

the new bids will be more in line with the amount council budgeted for

the project, which was designed by architect Don Cobb with input from

recreation staff and residents who use the Gathering Place.

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