White Bluff native Richard Bibb pledges $1.3 million to build new civic, education center

Accountant, businessman and White Bluff native Richard C. Bibb has pledged $1.3 million for his hometown to build a new civic and education center. The White Bluff Town Council voted Tuesday night to approve an agreement with Bibb under which the town will borrow the money and he will pay off the loan over a 10-year period. Bibb had already donated five acres on Old Charlotte Road adjacent to the new fire hall as the site for the center, which will be named for Bibb’s parents, Zollie H. Bibb Jr. and Hazel C. Bibb. “Our community has a long tradition of stepping up, responding to the needs of and providing opportunities for its people. This is another wonderful example of an individual coming forward to provide a gift so that others may benefit,” White Bluff Mayor Linda Hayes says in a prepared statement. “It is a gift that exemplifies White Bluff’s place at the forefront of volunteerism and service and we thank Richard wholeheartedly for his selfless generosity.” In the statement, Bibb says his family has called White Bluff home for many generations and this gift allows him to give back to the community. “White Bluff has been good to the Bibb family and we have tried to serve our community as best we could,” Bibb says. A CPA, William James High School and Austin Peay State University graduate, Bibb has previously donated land to the town for the new fire hall and provided funds to help establish the Jennie Woodworth Library and renovate the town’s 50-year-old community center. Construction of the Zollie H. Bibb Jr. and Hazel C. Bibb White Bluff Civic Center is expected to begin this summer and future plans for the site include a walking trail, gardens, lighted and covered pavilions and an outdoor amphitheater. The new center is proposed to house the town’s library, provide meeting and classroom space, host banquets, exhibits, entertainment and other events. White Bluff has been soliciting donations for the project for a year and Projects Administrator Jeff Martin reported Tuesday night over $40,000 has been pledged prior to Bibb’s gift. Martin said the town will “re-double” its efforts for more pledges with the funds to be used to furnish the new center and for matching portions of grants for further development of the site. Between the cash pledge and land donation from Bibb, Hayes said White Bluff will be getting a $1.8-2 million civic and education center without having to spend a penny of taxpayers’ money. Hayes and attorney Stan Reynolds said Bibb has agreed to a contract to pay off the town’s loan over a 10-year period and even has incorporated the agreement into his will should anything happen during that period.