FAIRFIELD — City leaders plan to trek next week to Denver to view cultural community centers similar to what they want to build in this aging bedroom suburb.

        Three Fairfield officials, three council members and a representative from the city's park board will tour six facilities next Monday and Tuesday. They'll gather ideas on the type of center they want to build in the city's new downtown area, Village Green.

        The two-day trip is estimated to cost the city about $7,000, said Jim Hanson, the city's financial director.

        Fairfield leaders chose Denver because the city leads the nation in building community cultural/recreation centers, Fairfield City Manager Art Pizzano said Monday. Denver also has a school where people go nationally to learn about community centers, he said.

        “That's where they give the clinic on how to do it right,” Mr. Pizzano said. “It makes sense to go where the professionals go to learn.”

        Fairfield might build a $9 million brick community cultural center that would be about 45,000 square feet with an auditorium and other offerings. Plans call for the center to rise next to the city's newest park in Village Green and library, and be three stories, including a basement.

        Along with the amphitheater and library already in Village Green, the center is meant to draw more visitors and expand and define Fairfield's downtown.

        While Fairfield's community cultural center still is just a proposal, council members are forming a business plan on the daily operations of such a center.

        The city also is looking at comparable sites in Ohio, particularly Dublin, Mr. Pizzano said.

        Meanwhile, council members will continue examining options to relieve the crowded and outdated justice center. The facility on Ohio 4 could be expanded or renovated, but nothing is definite.

        The city had tentatively planned to relocate the 17,794-square-foot justice center to the 77,000-square-foot Kroger plaza on Wessel Drive, which it plans to buy.

        However, council members recently agreed to postpone that decision to look into expansion possibilities. Some council members and residents don't think Village Green is the appropriate place to relocate it.

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