BEATRICE – The Beatrice Municipal Auditorium is seeing more use than ever, despite the move of the Beatrice Fire and Rescue to a new headquarters.
"The food pantry did a remodel...they've moved in and I think they've settled in well. CASA moved in, early February. Just here recently, Mother-to-Mother is going to open up a youth center sometime in March...I think that first week in March or second week...so they've taken up the rest of the basement. We remodeled an office upstairs for the I-T office, so they'll be moving upstairs in the next couple of weeks. Then, we've got Keep Beatrice Beautiful there, Main Street..so basically now, we're full capacity."


Beatrice Public Properties Director Mark Pethoud says the most recent remodel has been the space for Mother-to-Mother Ministries. "They knocked out some walls, that kind of stuff, because there were small offices and small rooms. One was the old housing office and an old engineering office. So, they opened up some walkways, upgraded some electrical and new lights...fixed the carpet."


Also busy has been the municipal auditorium basketball floor, which will be refinished in April. It’s being used for several events or leagues…serving as a multi-sport option in the community.


"Everyday...right now we have Pickleball, because it's nice right now they've been outside, but during the winter (weather) we've had Pickleball...we've had middle school basketball after school...then we have high school soccer in there and youth soccer in there. Then, we have basketball. We've got cornhole on Wednesday night, basketball Friday nights. We have groups using it."


Pethoud says most days, the auditorium floor is being used for some purpose, from three p.m. until nine p.m. Some adult activities chip in funding, but youth sports are at no charge. New scoreboards and shot clocks were installed this past year, along with new matting around the court.


Other non-sport events are held in the auditorium as well. Pethoud says the exterior of the historic auditorium is holding up well, with some regular maintenance.