The vision is becoming clearer as to what a new Emporia rec center could look like if local voters choose to approve a funding mechanism for the facility next year.
A big reason for the vision coming more into focus has much to do with the high level of input that has been gathered from residents through local engagement workshops in recent months including Tuesday evening. The Imagine the Future community engagement workshop saw a tremendous community turnout at the Bowyer Community Building where residents were able to see the latest renderings and 3D models of the potential facility at its proposed home Champions Landing.
The session comes nearly a month after Champions was chosen as the site of the proposed facility which was the top pick for residents Phyllis Stutzman and Carol Schoeck. Schoeck, while speaking with KVOE News, says she did initially have some reservations about the location, namely the price tag, but says those concerns eventually subsided when she saw the current and future potential the location has.
Both Stutman and Schoeck have been regulars at the recent community input sessions with Stutzman noting she believes the committee has done a good job of taking residents’ input to heart. She adds rec representatives have been very respectful in both listening and responding to questions or concerns from residents.
Committee member Lucas Moody, who has only been on the committee for the last three weeks, says it was very apparent from the get-go that the committee wants to take all information from the community and work it into the designs as much as possible. He adds the committee has done a great job in doing so while also keeping its financial obligations to taxpayers in mind.
Noting there is a budget to the project and “hard decisions” will have to be made along the way, having an open and honest dialogue with the community, much like the recent engagement sessions, makes those decisions easier for everyone to understand and hopefully accept.
At this time, BG Consultants along with Kahler Slater and Hutton Corporation are hoping to have final designs on the new facility complete by the end of the year. Once that is done there will still be more work needed before construction can potentially begin including a special election on March 4 where residents will have the chance to register their voices on a potential funding source for the facility.
If the funding mechanism is not approved by local voters BG Principal Architect Clint Hibbs says the committee will then have two courses of action to consider.
Until that vote, however, more community input sessions are planned to ensure the community is as well informed on what the future facility could potentially look like.
