The Riverside city council heard progress updates for two major projects during their meeting on Monday, May 3.

The first was an update on the city’s community center, poised to be constructed on city property adjacent to the nearby school.

Tad Morrow from Carl A. Nelson and Company presented on the center’s progress. His team had conducted two focus group meetings and were aiming for a third on Thursday, May 6.

“This was kind of the jumping-off point to start the discussion…to help shape the program we were after,” Morrow said.

The 17 surveyed residents put childcare options and after-school activities among their most requested needs for the center. A track for running was also a popular request.

Morrow presented various models the survey group had come up with based on a $4 million, $6 million and an “ideal” budget, the lattermost of which came out at around $7.6 million.

Morrow’s company had a hand in designing the community center in Kalona and the Washington YMCA. They took inspiration from those, as well as Lone Tree’s community center, when designing mock-ups for Riverside.

The city council seemed pleased with the update, but some members were unsure of just how much use the center might see.

“Right now, I see this more as a recreation center than a community center,” councilmember Jeanine Redlinger said. “I think as people learn of ways they can use it and ways we can pay for more use, it may be something we want to increase the size of.”

Councilmember Edgar McGuire also said he was concerned with the cost of the project since Riverside has a smaller population than the likes of Lone Tree or Kalona.

Morrow said the project would be available to be expanded upon whenever the situation calls for it. He said he felt happy with the way the previous meetings had gone and was looking forward to Thursday.

“We leave [each meeting] and feel like we have good feedback and good information. Personally, I think it’s gone really well,” he said.

The second major renovation project would be the relocation of Captain James T. Kirk’s landmark birth stone to a spot opposite the post office on Greene Street.

John Sojka offered the city an easement to expand existing fencing and move the stone. This would let him renovate the courtyard it’s currently at, as well as allow for easier access to the stone for tourists.

As city administrator Christine Yancey noted, this would call for a story to be crafted as to why the official birthplace is being moved.

“Technically [Kirk’s] house doesn’t have to be built right now,” McGuire said. “We have 250 years to figure it out.”

Star Trek’s famous starship captain, played by William Shatner, will famously be born in Riverside in the 23rd century.

Sojka aims to make the courtyard a comfortable dining spot. He said he wanted to get it “into tip-top shape” by adding a coffee table, some chairs, a bench, and a pedestrian walkway. The area would be perfect, he said, for outdoor diners who don’t want to deal with the hustle and bustle of Route 22.

Sojka’s plans for the courtyard, named ‘Colleen’s Corner’ after his late sister-in-law, also include adding a shed with a sign pointing out the directions to various Riverside destinations. “When they see that sign, they might say, ‘Hey let’s go downtown to this place or that place,’” he said.

Perhaps even for a short walk to visit the new birthplace of Riverside’s most famous future resident.