CHESAPEAKE — With help from the Lawrence County Commission, the Chesapeake Community Center will soon get a new look for its parking lot as a paving project recently got the green light.

A recent sale of property owned by the county to Shawnee Mental Health Center in Coal Grove will bring in approximately $159,000. About $20,000 of that will go to the Chesapeake center to pay for new asphalt for the lot

“We have been campaigning for that,” Ruth Damron, Chesapeake center director, said. “We have a lot of older people who come and get food (from the food pantry) and we need the parking lot paved really badly.”

Commission President Les Boggs said although the county hasn’t closed on the deal yet, the money should come in to the county by the middle of October.

However replacing the ceiling tiles in the gymnasium and re-sanding the floor there are improvement projects that may be put on hold until next spring.

“We may have to push it back until after basketball season,” Damron said. “We have too many kids who need the floor. We will probably wait until March.”

Fundraising for those projects continues at the center with a major one scheduled for the end of October — the annual Halloween ghost hunt conducted by Quest Paranormal. The hunt will be Oct. 25, 26 and 27 with a $15 charge. Refreshments will be served at midnight.

Area researchers consider the center a place for paranormal activity and have made video and audio recordings of what they contend is unusual events there.

Damron estimates the gym project will cost $5,000.

“We have tiles that are falling,” she said. “It looks bad. It is an eyesore. And the floor needs to be sanded and restriped. We may have to replace part of the floor. Some of the boards have totally worn out.”

Providing the funding to the center for the parking follows what Boggs calls the philosophy of the current commissioners.

“I think this commission has had our ears opened up to the needs of the community,” Boggs said.