Work begins on indoor sports complex, target opening remains March 2025
Work for the indoor sports complex has kicked off but city officials are warning changes are likely from the original plans.
During the Muscatine City Council meeting Thursday, Parks and Recreation Director Rich Klimes gave an update on how the project is progressing. The project includes the construction of an indoor temperature-controlled, multi-use facility that will consist of a synthetic turf field, an inflatable year-round dome structure, restrooms and a concession area on site. Similar domes are located in Burlington and Davenport.
"We are constructing it and it is going just fine," Klimes said. "There are some surprises that makes me a little anxious, but it's like any other project."
A groundbreaking ceremony for the dome is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Soccer West. Klimes said there will be a special announcement at the ceremony.
Klimes told the council some change orders are coming for the project. He said this is no different than any other project and is the result of some things that needed to be added or some things that were missed in the design process. A change order will be ready for the next meeting, he said, that will have both add-ons and deducts.
"We are looking for internal funding sources to cover any deducts or add-ons," Klimes said. 'We will bring everything to the table when we have the information."
Klimes said the construction company working on the project is very aggressive and the target opening date remains the first week of March.
Council member Nadine Brockert has agreed to be the liaison between the council and the construction crews. Klimes said the two will be meeting on Tuesday evening and in several usage, guidelines will be discussed and public input will be sought. Exact dates have not been set.
Klimes said that everyone is encouraged to attend those meetings.
Klimes commented he knows council members are receiving questions but said the crews are not ready to answer them yet.
The Parks and Recreation Board met Wednesday evening and a topic of discussion was the usage and guidelines. Klimes expects the guidelines to parallel other such complexes.
The original funding sources for the project is $1 million from the state of Iowa; $400,000 from Muscatine County; $2 million from private donations; $700,000 from the city of Muscatine bonding plus $466,900 bond premium; $434,800 from the city's balance in CAT grant fund; $400,000 from HNI Trust; and additional private donations and bonding as well as proceeds from the sale of city property at Hershey and Houser.
Klimes said that if anyone has questions and isn't comfortable attending the meetings, they can send him questions and he will get answers.
"I want everyone to be as engaged as they can and everyone to be part of this process so there are no surprises," he said.
Muscatine editor/reporter
