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Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet
Williamsburg unveils new community facility
FRANKFORT, KY. (June 30, 2005) -- Young athletes assisted with a ribbon cutting ceremony during an open house on June 28 at the new multipurpose facility at the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center. Little League players from Williamsburg Independent School District took turns shooting basketballs at ribbon-draped goals.
The event was held to unveil renovation including a new gymnasium floor constructed with a $46,896 crumb rubber matching grant awarded to the city of Williamsburg under the Waste Tire Market Development program administered by the Division of Waste Management in the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet (EPPC).
The Williamsburg grant was among more than $1 million in crumb rubber grants announced by Governor Ernie Fletcher in March.
EPPC Deputy Secretary John W. Clay and state Rep. Charles L. Siler (R-Williamsburg) were guest speakers during the ceremony. Clay commended local leaders for their dedication to the community and to the environment. Rep. Siler gave a brief history of the center.
The Williamsburg project, the first of its kind under the program, converted a concrete floor into a gymnasium floor by applying a molded crumb rubber surface from waste tires and then laminating the surface. Crumb rubber used in the process equaled 9,000 lbs. of scrap tires.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison said this new facility gives the community the equivalent of four gyms. Previously, sports teams and cheerleading squads had to share a gym at Williamsburg High School and a small gym at the center.
Division of Waste Management Director R. Bruce Scott said, “The use of crumb rubber in this project is a good example of taking a problem - in this instance a waste either being illegally dumped or properly disposed of at a high cost - and turning it into a win-win for the environment, the economy and the public at large. This is the kind of management solution that the agency seeks to achieve for materials that are otherwise disposed of at a significant cost to the public or to the detriment of the environment.”
For more information on the Waste Tire Program, go to http://www.waste.ky.gov/programs/rcla/Waste+Tires.htm or call (502) 564-6716.
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