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Gay service organization eyes Old Town property

http://keysnews.com/278340047167853.bsp.htm

Gay service organization eyes Old Town property

BY MANDY BOLEN

keysnews.com



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ROB O'NEAL/The Citizen
The Key West Gay and Lesbian Community Center is currently located at Duval Square. The organization is hoping to move to 513 Truman Avenue.


KEY WEST -- The Key West Gay and Lesbian Community Center, now tucked away in the charming, but pricey pedestrian mall of Duval Square, is working on becoming a homeowner.

The nonprofit community center, which celebrated its fifth anniversary in March, hopes to close on a Truman Avenue property in the coming weeks, said GLCC President Susan Kent.

The former Morrell Music building at 513 Truman Ave. is under contract with the center for $540,000, Kent said.

"We've already secured financing from private lenders for the first $500,000," she said, encouraged by the generosity of two private lenders, one of whom is the seller. "But we're trying to raise $40,000 by August 15 to complete the transaction."

"The very generous terms may allow our monthly payment to be lower than what we are currently paying in rent for the first few years," she said.

The center has previously struggled to make the $1,500 monthly rent payment in addition to the cost of utilities and salary for an administrator. It depends on fund-raisers, private donations and grants for income, as the dues for the center's 300 members are intentionally kept as low as possible, Kent said.

But the monthly payment at the new building could be offset by leasing some of the building's 900 square feet to another group.

The community center plans to begin negotiations with the Key West Business Guild to establish a lease agreement once the purchase is finalized and the center moves in. The guild specializes in marketing and visitor information for gay and lesbian tourists.

The board of the business guild voted recently to enter negotiations with the community center for a lease agreement, said Steve Smith, executive director of the Business Guild.

"We've been looking to relocating to a more accessible and visitor-friendly location," he said, referring to the guild's current second-floor office next to Bourbon Street Pub. "If things click correctly and all works right with the GLCC, we could be in the front of their building by October."

Smith added that the guild plans to provide gay and lesbian visitor services seven days a week beginning in October. Such services include information about places to stay, places to eat and answers to visitors' questions.

"This is our first step into something bigger," Kent said, adding that ownership of a property has been a long-term goal of the center since its inception. Others include a gay/lesbian museum and a general increase in programming.

The community center still plans to offer a lending library with more than 1,000 titles, an Internet cafe and a meeting room at its Truman Avenue location. For more information, or to make a donation, call 292-3223.

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This story published on Tue, Aug 5, 2003