LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) - The presentation for the new and improved Mizpah Community Center was given on Sunday, along with the T-Mobile hometown grant of 50 thousand dollars.
T-Mobile has awarded a 50-thousand-dollar grant to the City of Lima, and the funding is going towards a transformation of the former Mizpah Center on south central avenue. With help from state officials, the Philippian Community development corporation revealed the plans for this facility. This building will serve as a hub for education, engagement, and opportunities for lima residents.
"It's a five-year commitment to the rural communities across America. We've given 475 grants through the United States, with Ohio receiving 8 and this Northwest Ohio are here receiving 3 of them," says Paul Sopko, Senior Manager Role Markets for T-Mobile.
"What we want to do is build off that foundation and take a modern twist to it with how the world has evolved with technology and things that transpired to see how we can empower our community and to attract people to South Lima as well as Lima as a whole," says B. LaMont Monford, Pastor at Philippian Missionary Baptist Church.
The project is expected to be completed by Summer of 2027.
The City of Lima and the State of Ohio have also contributed to the reconstruction of the former Mizpah Community Center. The state legislature approved a 2-million-dollar investment through the one-time community investment fund to help with construction costs, and last summer Lima City Council approved 265 thousand dollars to hire the architecture for the project. State and city officials are glad to see this revitalization project moving forward.
"Lima is once again receiving national recognition for the work that we've been doing in making sure that we are one of those cities that is on the map when people talk about what are those cities that are coming back," says Mayor Sheretta Smith, City of Lima.
"The commitment of the mayor, and just as importantly, the commitment of this church community to this community center and the area around it has really been extraordinary. I have been working with Pastor Monford and the mayor on this project for about three years," says Matt Huffman, the Speaker of the House for Ohio.
Planned improvements include renovating the existing 7 thousand square foot building and adding an additional 21 hundred square foot addition for classrooms, and paving improvement to the existing parking lot.
