The Emporia Recreation Commission will not be altering its pledge to the DeBauge Soccer Complex improvement project despite a lower-than-expected allocation from the state of Kansas.
During their regular meeting Monday evening, ERC members chose to maintain their $1.5 million commitment to the project after originally approving said dollars earlier this year. If you recall, the ERC approved those dollars on the contingent that the city of Emporia received a $1.5 million CDBG grant from the state.
While the city did receive a grant, it was only half of the original ask, $750,000 to be exact. ERC membership chose to stick with the commitment, noting they felt this is a worthy project and one that is needed.
Emporia Mayor and ERC member Erren Harter also noted Monday night that the city is planning to pursue private dollars to help make up the remainder of the original ask of $1.5 million, if not more. When asked about this, Harter stated that, between the ERC and Stormont Vail pledges of $1.5 million each, plus the $750,000 in CDBG funds, they could move forward now with constructing a new facility.
However, he says the question on all of their minds at this time is not if they can move forward, but rather what kind of facility they want to move forward on.
While there are no immediate leads on said private dollars, according to Harter, he tells local media that the process will be much simpler once they have “The actual project” on paper, ready to present to potential donors.
With that in mind, BG Consultants has been working recently to draw up more than one option for the project based on available dollars. Harter says those options should be more fine-tuned and ready to review by the ERC’s next meeting in December.
With that in mind, Harter stated all involved are still hopeful they will have the upgrades, whatever they may be, completed and ready by the start of the 2026 fall activities season.
In other business Monday, ERC members received an update on the rec center’s indoor pool, which has been closed for repair work since November 12. Following those discussions, ERC members approved Rec Director Amanda Gutierrez to move forward with consulting with experts on additional repairs to the pool, which has been experiencing notable water leaks in recent years, which was the main reason for the closure earlier this month.
Specifically, Gutierrez says they will be contacting experts to see if the current leak is the only issue and, if not, what it may cost to make additional repairs.
Local media asked Gutierrez if additional issues were found, how would she and the ERC go about weighing the costs and benefits of additional work? She replied, saying, “That’s a great question.” However, there is no answer to it until they know if other issues exist and how extensive they may be.
In separate business Monday, ERC members reviewed the 2026 Jones Aquatic Center operation agreement, received a review of the recent KSHSAA volleyball tournament held at White Auditorium and received the monthly program updates.
The ERC will reconvene for their monthly meeting on Monday, December 15th at 5:30 pm inside of the Lee Beran Recreation Center.
