Funding for the Memorial Opera House renovation is once again in place. The Porter County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to appropriate $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money for a scaled-back version of the project.
Council President Jeremy Rivas said that while he'd rather see the full renovation and expansion as originally proposed, he doesn't want the building to fall apart from a lack of action, either. "I think there's a lot of structural issues over there that need to be addressed," Rivas said.
Still, he urged the county commissioners not to exclude new restrooms from the scope of the project, but leave them as an alternate bid if money is available. "That's what I thought we had agreed upon, but I think that's some of the frustration of a few council members is you think you agree upon something and it changes," Rivas added.
He felt new restrooms were necessary, not only to make them accessible to those with disabilities but also to allow for more social distancing in the lobby.
The council and commissioners have gone back and forth with each other for months over the scope of the project. At one point, the council appropriated the $5 million in ARPA money, only to pull it when the commissioners tried to scale the project back. The restrooms remained a sticking point, and the council held off on approving the funding last month, before revisiting the issue on Tuesday.