WEBB — If all goes according to plan, ongoing construction of a spanking new Webb Community Center will be completed in less than one month, Mayor Mary Croft said Tuesday.
Croft noted that the tentative completion date for the 2,400-square-foot metal building is Aug. 24.
Cole Builders of Batesville is erecting the structure at the intersection of North Laura Street and Chippewa Avenue, on the site where Webb Community House stood for over 80 years before being destroyed by fire in January 2020.
That building, of roughly 1,400 square feet, was built in 1938 or 1939 through President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s National Youth Administration, part of the New Deal initiative to provide jobs and relief to Americans during the Great Depression.
The Webb Lions Club sponsored the Depression-era project and held meetings and other functions in the building. The Webb Civic Club, a former woman’s organization, also met and held events there, as did the Tallahatchie County 4-H Club and Sumner Rotary Club, among others.
The Community House was utilized for wedding and funeral receptions, baby showers, birthday parties, banquets, educational activities, volunteer firefighter training classes, pet vaccination drives, family and school reunions, spaghetti suppers, cake walks, political rallies, a voting precinct for town and county elections and more.
Webb Community House stands in this undated photo.
In more recent years, it had provided housing for Webb Reading Corner, an educational outreach. Since the fire, the Reading Corner has operated from the former National Guard armory here.
Croft said the newly dubbed Webb Community Center “represents more than just a replacement for the building lost in the fire. It’s an investment in the future of the Town of Webb.”
She said residents “are looking forward to having a community [center] to strengthen the town for years to come.”
The present construction project was buoyed by a special legislative appropriation of $250,000, and Croft expressed thanks to District 13 state Sen. Sarita Simmons and District 30 state Rep. Tracey Rosebud “for making sure the Town of Webb was allocated with this $250,000 project.” Croft also noted that former Webb Mayor Michael Plez was instrumental in the initiative.
Croft said while the legislative award was enough for the building, "we need additional funding to complete the project."
She did not hesitate before adding, “But it will be completed.”
