Salisbury making progress on ownership of Truitt Street Community Center

SALISBURY, Md. – The City of Salisbury is moving forward with plans to buy the Truitt Street Community Center.

The city has been renting the facility at 319 Truitt Street for about two years but officials say they have always planned on buying the property. They anticipated getting a grant from the state of Maryland in June to cover the costs but that has been delayed due to the pandemic. So for now, they plan to use money from other areas of the budget and they hope that money can be reimbursed after they get the grant.

“The funds have been approved, we’re just waiting for the allocation. If we don’t receive the funds through the allocation, are we able to utilize our funds and then be reimbursed? We’ve posed those questions at the state level and we are waiting for a response,” says Ron Strickler, the Director of the City of Salisbury’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCDD).

Strickler says they hope to close on the building by the end of December and they have expansion projects planned in the future at the Truitt Street Community Center but of course that requires ownership.

Back in 2019, a garden area was proposed for the center and a new indoor basketball court was installed.

As for the Newton Street Community Center, that building will be inspected soon and the city will work on outfitting it with equipment and furniture in the coming months.