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Plans for Fredericksburg's Dixon Street Recreational Complex have been in the works for the past 15 years.
And since last March, the city has finally moved from blueprints to backhoes.
But soon, Parks and Recreation Department officials may find themselves virtually back at square one.
On Tuesday, Fredericksburg resident Doris Buffett offered $2.5 million through her Sunshine Lady Foundation for a Boys & Girls Club. She said she wants it built next to a planned community center within the recreational complex.
Under the proposal, the city would own the building, which would be leased for $1 a year to the club for area youth.
Buffett's foundation has established Boys & Girls Clubs in the Carolinas, and many of her charities are geared toward young people.
Boys & Girls Club board member Xavier Richardson, Senior Branch Director Forrest Parker, and Buffett's son-in-law, Mark Haymes, made the proposal to the City Council.
The emissaries then turned up the heat by insisting that the council decide by the end of the month whether to accept the gift, or risk losing it.
"I think this is a wonderful gesture," said City Councilman Joe Wilson. "But I have a bit of a problem being told if you don't act immediately, we'll take the gift elsewhere."
Wilson added that details need to be worked through before the city lurches ahead with the project.
"I think if the building is built and the city is taking care of it, and doing the maintenance, yet providing it to the Boys & Girls Club for a dollar a year, than the city is pretty much taking on full responsibility."
Other issues to be decided include whether the club will run its own athletic programs or mesh with the city's offerings.
"The complex was planned over a period of years and up to now is proceeding as planned," said George Solley, a member of the city Parks and Recreation Commission. "Now we have to see how we can work that facility into the existing plans with minimum adverse effect on the [complex]."
There's also the question of how the two buildings will fit on the four-acre site.
"Lots of variables haven't been worked out," said Robert Antozzi, director of the Parks and Recreation Department. "Significant changes would need to be made to the community center location to accommodate the Boys & Girls Club."
The commission may hold an emergency meeting, since its next regular meeting is not until next Thursday.
For the past three years, the local chapter of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, which offers youth-oriented improvement programs, has met in the original Walker-Grant School on Gunnery Road.
With membership hovering around 600, the club has outgrown its space. There are also other limitations, according to Parker.
"There's no air conditioning in the gymnasium," he said on Tuesday. "We need to be out by 7:30 p.m. on the weeknights, and it's closed on the weekends."
Richardson and others involved with the offer all feel the community center is the ideal spot for the club.
"There's a tremendous opportunity for the kids at the club to take advantage of what the center offers," Richardson said.
Haymes added that Buffett's deadline is in keeping with her personality.
"She likes to get things done right away," he said. "She always says, 'We're burning daylight.'"
Haymes added that he and his mother-in-law would like a yes-or-no answer by the end of June, but recognize that many details still need to be worked out.
"We're not bull-rushing them," Haymes said. "This isn't something that needs to be hashed and rehashed. Do you like the proposal, or don't you? We can work out the operational deals together."
To reach ELIZABETH PEZZULLO: 540/374-5421 epezzullo@freelancestar.com