These town hall meetings, plus an online survey that the EDC is conducting on our Web site, represent the final stages of our feasibility study on the (events center).

The results of these surveys will let the EDC, local business volunteers and city and county governments know if the events center is something the public truly wants to move forward with.

One of the things we are hearing from parents is that this is a much-needed facility for teenagers, where they can go for entertainment and are not hanging out somewhere, getting into trouble.

There's been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of meetings. When you consider this has been an all-volunteer effort, it's a good feeling to know we've met this milestone. Owning the building is a big feather in our cap. But it's still an uphill battle.

After it closed in 1940, the Boy Scouts and the 4H used it for meetings, and then all of the sudden, there was no 4H.

Beijing is the capital for all Chinese so we won't bar anyone from coming to Beijing during the meetings.