What are Cedar Rapids’ options to build a dual-use facility? City plans to seek private dollars, partnerships

CEDAR RAPIDS — City officials are exploring options to potentially build a multimillion-dollar dual-use intergenerational center and sports complex in Cedar Rapids, answering citizen calls for more dedicated space for seniors and recreational programming. But the effort remains years away from coming to fruition and would require private support and other public partnerships to bring to life.

With the city’s Northwest Recreation Center essentially at capacity with the programs and services it can offer, city officials say a new facility would expand recreational offerings in a space where people of all ages can gather and collaborate across generations. It could draw sports tourism opportunities and provide more services dedicated to older adults, which community members say are needed after the loss of the Witwer Senior Center in the 2008 flood.

A study determining the feasibility of such a facility was among several action items in the city’s Age-Friendly Action Plan, created as a guide to help Cedar Rapids grapple with demographic shifts while making the community more livable. The number of Americans ages 65 and older will more than double in the next 40 years, reaching 80 million in 2040.

City officials are still charting a path forward to secure funding in the next five to 10 years that would make construction of this facility possible. If they move forward, it’s possible the matter would eventually head to the community for a bond referendum to fill the gaps remaining after raising money from the private sector, grants or other sources. Any amount over $1.3 million would require a bond vote.

Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell told The Gazette she’s had conversations with multiple groups about the need for another central gathering facility. The city and nonprofit partners will continue to offer services every day for older adults, she said, but it’s also important to start thinking about aging differently while potential facility planning is underway.

“We can do that culturally,” O’Donnell said. “I would love to see Cedar Rapids be a place that is known for our work in supporting mature adults or opportunities for adults to age well … This is not just about building a new building. For me as mayor, it’s also about how do we as a city position ourselves as the most age-friendly in the Midwest.”

What are the options?

A feasibility study recently completed by CSL International, shared earlier this month with the City Council’s Development Committee, presented two options for a dual-use facility to be built at yet-to-be-disclosed locations. The study looks at the community and market to see whether a facility would make sense in Cedar Rapids, but isn’t a final determination on whether the facility will be built.

Both options would create an indoor sports facility with indoor hardwood courts (either eight full-sized basketball courts or 16 full-sized volleyball courts) and at least one indoor turf field.

A $48.8 million, approximately 125,000 square-foot facility would offer those amenities without a pool. The other option — an approximately 160,000 square-foot facility for $65.5 million — would include space for all of those amenities, plus one more turf field, an aquatic center and a sauna.

Other amenities that could be part of both options include locker rooms, party rooms, scoreboards, bleachers, athletic gear, a walking track, gathering space, a food court, climbing/game areas and a performance/training center.

Recreation Superintendent Tony Ireland said city staff have identified a 17-acre site and a 35-acre infill site that could host a facility “where we wouldn't have to push this to the edge of town where it wouldn't be accessible.”

In fiscal 2025 — the budget year that spans July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 — Ireland said an aquatics condition assessment will assess the state of the city’s aquatics facilities as four of the city’s five outdoor pools are more than 20 years old.

Plus, Bender Pool, the city’s only indoor pool, is “something we can't shy away from,” Ireland said. The facility, which is more than 50 years old, has mechanical problems and lacks modern amenities, he said.

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In preparing a facilities master plan ahead of the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s failed $220 million bond vote, Ireland said the school district identified a need for a pool, which could present an opportunity to build partnerships.

To create an Olympic-sized pool, larger than the pool envisioned in the study, O’Donnell said that could not happen alone. While conversations about a partnership have not happened yet, she said it would make sense to partner with entities including but not limited to the school district.

“Taxpayers alone cannot — nor should they — shoulder the burden of funding something like this,” O’Donnell said. “This is built for public-private partnership … We have a role to play and taxpayers have a role to play, and private businesses, private individuals will need to be the driver who agree that we want to be this place where seniors can age well.”

Community feedback

Input from the community indicated a strong desire for more space for youth recreational programming and for older adults to gather.

The city received 2,750 survey responses from a wide range of ages. There were 33 local stakeholders and neighborhood association members interviewed, with representation from sectors including health and aging services, sports and tourism and economic development, city planner Betsy Borchardt said. To assess market demand, Borchardt said 27 regional competitive sports organizers were interviewed.

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More than 80 percent of survey respondents expressed that they believe there is a need for new indoor sports facilities and for additional community gathering spaces in Cedar Rapids, Borchardt said.

Ireland said consideration would have to be given to space for ice sports. The study indicated somewhat significant demand, but it’d be costly to maintain. The courts could serve not only basketball and volleyball, but also cheer, gymnastics and wrestling. Indoor turf could be especially beneficial in the winter, he said, allowing for indoor soccer, baseball or softball.

“It's just something we don't have in our market that's accessible outside just club teams that have their own space right now,” Ireland said.

City officials have said design considerations, such as for the entryway and parking, could make sure the building is set up so that older adults don’t have to walk through sports events or park far away to access the community center. Intentional programming also could be coordinated so activities for older adults are not offered at the same time as sports tournaments, for example.

“We want it to be affordable and we want this location to be inclusive to our community,” Borchardt said.

Next steps

The Development Committee is only one-third of the nine-member city council, so it’s uncertain where the whole council would stand now that facility options and cost estimates have been presented. But committee members Ann Poe and Ashley Vanorny favored the second option — priced at $65 million — largely because of the city’s future needs for a new indoor pool.

“This number does not scare me and the time frame does not scare me,” said Poe, the committee chair. “This is something we are building for the future, and we need to grab a hold of it and start owning it.”

Funds that would otherwise be used to address Bender Pool’s condition could be reallocated into this project, Vanorny said. The community also has made clear that they want amenities like a lazy river and services that are inclusive of older adults, she said.

“Every single point that we're advocating for and trying to pitch for as we set this up for a community vote is the fact that it is data driven,” Vanorny said. “It's not just some pie-in-the-sky idea.”

The city’s next steps in early 2024 will be to form an older adult task force made up of city officials, nonprofits, health care groups and facilities that serve older adults. O’Donnell said this will help include voices from those with a variety of recreational interests.

“Citizens have been asking for a place like this for a very long time,” O’Donnell said. “Maybe we’re fortunate that we’re having the conversation now as opposed to five or 10 years ago because we do know so much more about aging and aging well. It seems to me that we have the right people engaged in the conversation.”

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com