Gulfport News
Lyman Community Center Opens Tuesday - Amnesty Court Program Update

From: City of Gulfport   Filed 2/8/10  GCN    updated 2/9/10

The new $2 million Lyman Community Center on U.S. 49 will open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today at 6 p.m.

The 17,000-square-foot center was rebuilt on the exact footprint of the previous building, which was destroyed by an electrical fire in July 2007.  The Department of Leisure Services will begin accepting reservations for the new center on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

Leisure Services officials expect to be ready to hold the first event at the Lyman Center by Friday, Feb. 19. The community center first opened shortly after the 1994 annexation and was one of the first spaces provided by the city for public use in the Orange Grove-Lyman area.

Before Hurricane Katrina, the old community center hosted an average of 200 events a year. More than 80,000 people passed through the doors in 2004. The new facility will be large enough to hold up to 750 people and it will again be the largest of its kind in Gulfport.

The City Council will hold its monthly Citizens Agenda Meeting immediately following the ceremony inside the new community center.

Amnesty Program Update

In just the first week of its amnesty program, the Gulfport Municipal Court, the largest in the state, has collected more than $155,000, officials said today.

Municipal Court judges began the amnesty program last week and it will run through March 15, allowing those with delinquent fines to pay the court without penalty or fear of jail time.

Even those with warrants for failing to appear will not be arrested if they pay their fines within the 43-day amnesty period.

In some cases, the savings to motorists could be substantial.

“This program is working,” said Municipal Court Administrator Odell Thompson. “Citizens are settling their delinquent traffic fines without fear of penalty and getting their driver’s license back, and at the same time it is generating significant revenue for the City of Gulfport.”

The Municipal Court offered a similar amnesty program in 2006, and collected more than $150,000 in old fines during a two-week period.

Court hours have been extended from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. during the amnesty program.

Rules for the Feb. 1-March 15 amnesty program:

• Defendants must pay the fine in person at the court with some form of identification.

• Defendants must pay the fine and court cost in full.

• Fines must be paid by cash, credit card, money order or cashier’s check.

• Fines can be paid in full at the Municipal Court building at 2810 34th Avenue.

For more information, please call the Gulfport Court Amnesty hotline at 575-7799.