Community Redevelopment Agency Votes to Give the Riley Museum $50,000 to Complete Visitor Center, Scott Maddox Lone Dissenting Vote

The City of Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board met on Monday and one of the issues discussed was a recommendation to appropriate $50,000 to the Riley Museum.

On July 13, 2011, the CRA Board approved a $125,000 grant to the John G. Riley Center/Museum for African American History and Culture (Museum) to assist in the construction of a proposed visitor center.

On January 17, 2013, CRA staff received a request from the Museum for an additional $50,000 in grant funds to assist in the completion of construction of the visitor center.  In the request, they note that the construction bids for the project were between $306,000 and $350,000, and that the actual permit fees were $11,647 more than expected.

After hearing pleas from Museum representatives and supporters, the CRA Board voted to appropriate the $50,000 to complete the visitor center. The lone dissenting vote was from City Commissioner Scott Maddox, who voiced concern about the mission of the CRA and the projects that were getting funded. Maddox said is was concerned about “mission creep” and wanted to discuss the mission of the CRA during the next meeting.

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