Fundraising effort under way for potential community center battle

There has been a controversy for some time over the potential sale of the Northport Community Center. And now a GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for possible legal fees.

Some Northport residents are ready to go to court to fight to keep their community center and park. Resident and park supporter Sandra Barnidge organized the page that has raised more than $5,000 so far.

“This week we finally decided that we were ready to get serious about exploring legal options for saving the park. So I went ahead and started the Go Fund Me to raise money to help the Parsons Firm have the resources they need,” said Barnidge.

The establishment of the GoFundMe page comes after the Northport City Council voted to begin a 180-day due diligence period to consider selling the city-owned property to the Beeker Property Group, in spite of locals speaking out against the sale.

“The council is not serious about listening to downtown residents and we felt it was necessary to start pursuing our other options,” said Barnidge.

Northport Mayor John Hinton said he intends to veto the sale if it passes a city council vote. If Hinton vetoes, a new vote would require at least four of Northport’s five council members to overturn the veto.

“A lot of people have a lot of interest growing up in Northport and have a lot of interest in the community center. I did not grow up in Northport, so I feel maybe different than a lot of people in terms of the closeness and the memories,” said Hinton.

You can check out the GoFundMe or donate right here.