Media center plan on council agenda

The Maricopa City Council will meet Tuesday to consider approving  the site plan for a nearly $1 million multimedia center.

The media production center will be the home of Maricopa-based ministry XP Media, a national organization that shares Christian beliefs through film and other mediums.

“We just love being in Maricopa,” said the group’s building coordinator Francisco Arboleda. “The city has been great in helping us with this project.”

The center was first approved by council in early 2010 and scheduled for completion in December 2010.

However, the group  decided to redesign the project to meet new city design standards proposed for the area where the project will be built, reducing the scope of the project from a two-story 9,046-square-foot structure to a one-story 5,046-square-foot building.

“As a church organization we pay for everything in cash,” Arboleda said. “Due to the state of the economy we had to scale back a little.”

Groundbreaking is scheduled for March and will be completed by April 2012, according to project manager Tom Ramsdell.

The building will include a film studio, four editing bays, a sound room, a green room and administrative offices.

“This is going to be a state of the art facility,” Ramsdell said.

The council will also hear an update on the current fiscal year’s budget and consider approving a site plan for Sequoia Pathway Academy.

The council’s work session will begin at 6 p.m., the regular session at 7 p.m. Both meetings will be held at the Maricopa Unified School District Office at 44150 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway.

For more on XP Media see: Lights, camera  . . . Maricopa!