Parks director provides projector update

The only place in Perry County to watch new movies has been out of service for several weeks. However, the city of Perryville is optimistic a replacement part could arrive in early November and get the projector at the Perry Park Center theater back in service.
Perryville Parks and Recreation Director Jim Cadwell briefed aldermen on the projector situation at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“I think we need to go through the process of making a repair first because there is a chance the part that’s coming isn’t going to fix this, and this could get delayed further,” Cadwell said. “We’re going to learn a lot once that part comes.”
The recommendation from the Park Board is to try the replacement part, according to Alderman Larry Riney.
“They felt if it failed, then it would be in our best interest to go ahead and switch now because if this part fails and we order another part, we’re down another 10-12 weeks, that’s going to take us through our holiday season where a lot of people like to come. The new releases are out during the holiday season,” Riney said.
Cadwell believes the replacement part could arrive in a couple weeks.
“It’s supposed to ship the first of November,” Cadwell said.
The part that the city is waiting on is a chip that connects to the system’s motherboard, according to Cadwell.
“They think that’s it but until they actually replace it, you don’t really know,” Cadwell said. “Unfortunately, the chips are in short supply.”
In normal circumstances, the part would have been available in three to four days, Cadwell noted.
Part of the discussion centered on not fixing what was broken but getting the Park Center a new projector. This is estimated to cost $50,000 for a new projector
“I’m going to make the recommendation to the Park Board to get a new projector,” Riney said.
Cadwell said a new projection system is a “turnkey operation” which includes a new screen and is the “latest and greatest.”
Prince Hudson wanted to know the warranty options of a new projector. Cadwell responded it would probably be five to 10 years.
“It sounds to me we’d be money ahead if we went ahead and did this,” Hudson said.

It’s not certain how long it would take to get a new projector ordered and installed. Cadwell said having a discussion on a new projector was a way of getting ahead of the game.
“I wanted these guys to have a little information to think about if this part does not work,” Riney said. “I want you guys to be prepared if worse comes to worse.”
A new projector has not been put out for bid, but was a recent discussion item at a recent Park Board meeting.
The existing projector system is estimated to be 10 years old.
“You start spending good money for bad, when you start doing this kind of thing, it happens all over the country,” Hudson said. “If we can afford to buy something, we need to talk about that.”
The city has been without an operating projector for the past 10 weeks.
“I think to wait a little more would be prudent, it’s like a $1,200 fix,”
“If it works,” Hudson said.
“If it doesn’t, then that’s a different conversation,” Cadwell said.
Skate park (Subhead)
Cadwell provided the aldermen with an update on skate park discussions.
“I did go out and look at a few more sites,” Cadwell said. “I’ve looked at six total and was just bringing the Park Board up to speed on that.”
Cadwell suggested holding a public hearing regarding the skate park in the near future. The date brought up was Dec. 15 but nothing has been scheduled yet.
“Invite all parties at that point in time and look at locations,” he said. “I think we have a good idea of pricing. We’d like to get people’s input. We have one chance to do it the right way and the more people that chime in, I think the better.”
Riney said the consensus of the Park Board was to construct a large, flat concrete surface just in case the city doesn’t get enough people to use the area it could be utilized for other purposes.
A skate park is not part of the city’s capital improvement plan but city administrator Brent Buerck said it could be added when the next long-term improvement plan is completed.