The Emporia Recreation Commission will be contributing to a significant facility update should the city of Emporia be awarded a major grant in the near future.
During a special hybrid meeting Friday afternoon, the ERC voted unanimously to contribute $1 million in matching funds as well as $500,000 in bonding for a planned upgrade to the DeBauge Family Sports Complex. The money is not yet locked to this endeavor, as it is contingent on the city of Emporia, which made the contribution request, being awarded a $1.5 million Community Development Block Grant.
According to Emporia Deputy City Manager Mark Detter, the project would be broken into two phases, with phase one estimated to cost roughly $4.5 million.
As mentioned, the ERC’s portion of funds will be contingent on whether the city receives the CDBG grant and the same could be said for the entire project, according to Detter.
According to Rec Director Amanda Gutierrez, the ERC has the dollars available for the project, noting they have been saving money for some time for an update to the t-ball fields at Santa Fe Park. According to initial conversations on the DeBauge project, the facility could become multi-use, which means pivoting the t-ball funds to this project could benefit many different activities.
The decision comes with discussions still underway for a new Emporia rec center in the future, a process that was put on hold late last year following the closure announcements of Tyson Foods and Holiday Resort. With that in mind, and the potential for a vote on the matter coming next year, KVOE News asked Detter and Emporia Rec Director Amanda Gutierrez if having both of these projects in development at the same time could cause any issues.
Detter reminded residents that the DeBauge upgrade was originally part of the new rec facility plan. Detter believes that handling the DeBauge upgrade as an individual project could help lower the price tag on the proposed rec facility.
In her response to the same question, Gutierrez acknowledged that even a reduced price tag for the proposed new facility would still be in the multi-million-dollar range. That said, she noted that she and her staff are only focused on promoting active lifestyles in the community and they will do that wherever they have to, whether that be a new facility or the current Lee Beran Recreation Center.
That said, Gutierrez believes the citizens of Emporia deserve the best facility possible.
Emporia City Commissioners are set to consider and possibly approve the CDBG application during their regular action meeting next Wednesday.
