ACC president John Masterson took his schools plans to build a new Activity Center before Allen County commissioners on Tuesday morning in an effort to gauge interest in a potential partnership.
When you go after a project this big you want to have partnerships, Masterson said. I am sure there are things you guys have been thinking about, some things the city has been thinking about, needs that we all have. This is an opportunity for all of us to come together and solve these problems and do it less expensively for each one of us. But also have a bigger, nicer facility for all of us.
Masterson said the project, which will include a 200-meter indoor track, and a storm shelter, could cost anywhere from $12 million to $24 million, depending on whether it has a pool.
They said add $10 million if there is a pool, Masterson said.
Masterson said Allen Community Colleges current activity center was built in 1983 and is starting to show its age.
It has lots of wear on it and with the amount of athletes we have now, it is too small. We share it with the community when we can and it is used for youth softball during the winter.
Currently we dont have a tornado shelter on the campus. I have tried to get someone to come down and designate a building as a storm shelter, but no one wants to. And I understand that if we put a lot of people in a building and it doesnt withstand a tornado, then that is a real problem, he said.
IN TALKS with area leaders, Masterson said he has garnered wide support for a full-fledged activity center.
Sid Fleming, Iola administrator, specifically mentioned the north side of town, which continues to grow, Masterson said.
Humboldt superintendent of schools Kay Lewis told Masterson about the districts successful efforts of securing a FEMA grant for a storm shelter that will hold 675 people and will double as a wrestling room at the sports complex.
Masterson said the college plans on spending up to $7 million on the project. If it doesnt include an indoor pool, the school would ask the county and Iola for $3 million apiece. The school would seek $6 million apiece if a pool were to be included.
There has been some interest in a pool from the community, so I added it to our dream list. We currently do not have a swimming or diving team and I do not see us having one in the foreseeable future, but it would be a nice asset to have, Masterson said. If someone wanted to have a county-wide swim meet or something like that, again this could be the time to do this type of project.
Masterson said if Iola decided to forego using the Community Building at Riverside Park as its primary activity center, then the college would factor in an additional $1 million to double the size of the colleges current activity center to accommodate them.
Our goals right now are to relieve the stress on our current facilities and help recruit new students to the college and provide better physical education classes. We want to serve the residents of Allen County by providing them with recreational and healthy living opportunities, Masterson said.
Commissioner Jerry Daniels asked Fleming about the current situation at Riverside Park.
Fleming said, I think there is a desire for having a pool indoors that people can access year round. But no matter how you look at it, that area at Riverside is still in a bowl and there is nothing we can do about that, its always going to flood.
