A policy and planning session held at Tuesday’s Pella City Council meeting centered on the future of renovations of the Pella Community Center and potential construction of a new rec center.
This continues an ongoing development of paths forward on the two facilities in the community. During regular business, the Pella City Council approved a formal partnership with the Friends of the Pella Community Center to allow the non-profit to fundraise more support from private donations.
A tentative go-ahead was given by previous holdouts John Butler and Harold Van Stryland for the rec center portion, with a fundraising deadline now set for the December 3rd meeting. No formal action has been taken about construction. An estimated $2 million deficit remains between the funds secured and the base plan for the rec center, which includes $15.5 million in private pledges.
The main challenge for the future of the rec center will be how to scale the project down to meet the current funding, and how to secure cash to pay for construction, since that would take two years, and most of the pledges the city has secured are five-year commitments.
A presentation was given Tuesday by the City of Pella’s financial advisor Michael Maloney about some options for the council to consider. The December deadline established would give six months to fundraise and secure other funding sources for both the Pella Community Center and rec center.