Site-selection, budget workgroups present recommended program and financing options for Grove City community center

Council heard a detailed report on an updated community-center program, site-selection results and financing options Monday night from the committees that studied the project and consulting teams.

The combined site-selection and finance work produced a recommended base program of roughly 188,000 square feet that includes a 14,000-square-foot senior center addition, about 5,800 square feet of added competitive-pool area, a teaching kitchen, four community rooms and expanded circulation and mechanical space. The consultants also presented six finalist sites across the city and a financing approach that would rely primarily on an extension of the Pinnacle TIF and other local revenue and fundraising to limit taxpayer burden.

The recommendation matters because it moves Grove City from high-level concepts toward specific program, site and budget figures that councilors can use when they pursue property control, design and eventual voter authorization of public financing. The committees noted the program grew from an initial 120,000-square-foot estimate to the larger total after adding activity and building-function space, and that the site-selection work was intended to ensure proposed parcels can accommodate the larger building and parking.

Consultant James Russell, presenting the site work on behalf of the committee, said the committee evaluated 18 parcels and narrowed them to six finalists that can accommodate the base program. "All of these sites can work and function for your base program," Russell said, noting that three locally controlled parcels could also hold a larger, tournament-soccer complex if council later chose to co-locate those fields.

Ashley Sen, director at Pazuti Solutions, presented financing scenarios and operating assumptions. Sen said the committee used a $5 million annual operating estimate and recommended a 75 percent cost-recovery target by the third year, leaving roughly $1.25 million in annual operating subsidy to be covered by other sources. Sen said the finance committee recommended extending the Pinnacle TIF — currently set to expire in 2035 — to 2050 as a primary revenue mechanism, estimating roughly $125 million in incremental TIF receipts over 25 years if projections hold. Sen also proposed a $1.5 million fundraising campaign by the newly formed Grove City Parks Foundation and recommended pursuing partnerships (for example, school agreements for use of a competition pool) and selective third-party leases for complementary services.

The consultants offered a timeline and steps: advance design and site control now, conduct community engagement and assume a November 2026 ballot for a revenue measure if council chooses that route. Sen advised allowing a year of design and outreach before placing an income-tax measure on the ballot, to give voters a concrete project to evaluate. "By the time the ballot issue does come up in November 2026, there will already have been a lot of excitement and people will have been talking about this project for a year," she said.

Budget and cost ranges presented: the committee's base-program construction estimate is about $102 million; a combined base-plus-tournament scheme was presented in the $110–120 million range. The consultants recommended carrying an acquisition placeholder of $5 million in the project budget and estimated design-phase professional fees at roughly $2.5 million to advance schematic design.

Council members asked for additional detail on pool dimensions, number of lanes and the relationship of a competition pool to school use; the consultants said the program allows flexibility and that final pool specifications will be set during design and public engagement. Council also asked staff to track naming-rights, sponsorship and foundation fundraising opportunities during the design phase.

Next steps discussed included further site due diligence for the six finalist parcels, developing a more detailed pro forma, advancing design work if council approves, and preparing voter education and fundraising plans if council directs a funding measure. The site-selection committee materials and scoring will be provided to council as part of the packet for follow-up work.

The presentation closed with council direction to keep advancing due diligence and to return with follow-up information and answers to written council questions at subsequent meetings.