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After more than two months of public input, the city of Decatur is ready to reveal draft plans for the future of the United Methodist Children’s Home campus.

The city purchased the 77-acre Methodist property last year for $40 million. That expenditure will likely play a role in what the city decides to do with the property.

According to the Decatur Next website, “The City of Decatur has already committed over $40 million to the property’s acquisition, upkeep, and planning efforts and it’s unrealistic to expect significantly more in the near-term. Instead, the most viable strategies will be dependent on the strength of partnerships we’re able to forge — local authorities and institutions, nonprofit organizations, developers, community foundations, or others able to bring both financial and operational resources to the table.”

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With that in mind, the city will unveil the first drafts on Monday, April 30 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event will be held at the Ebster Recreation Center, located at 105 Electric Ave., Decatur.

“Attendees will need to evaluate each proposal not just in terms of what it offers but of how it can be effectively realized as well,” the Decatur Next website says. “What strategies are necessary to turn these dreams into reality and what will be required on the part of the city, potential partners, and the community to get it done?”

Potential uses for the property that have been discussed are park space, homeless shelters and soup kitchens, saunas, a Decatur museum in the old chaplain’s house, and community gathering spaces for yoga, art classes and the like.

For more information about Monday’s meeting, click here.

Writer Gabriel Owens contributed a some reporting to this story. 

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