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County supervisors hear strong early usage and state grant support for new wellness center
Summary
Friends of the Wellness Center briefed supervisors on several hundred memberships and outreach to surrounding counties; presenters said the state contributed roughly $500,000 from Destination Iowa funds to close a remaining construction gap, and discussed membership, staffing and partnership plans.
Friends of the Wellness Center representatives told the Crawford County Board that the new facility in Denison opened to strong public interest and broad regional use. One staff member reported membership activity: “Trevor text me this morning we've had 650 memberships that have coded in. He thinks we're close to 800,” the presenter said, describing first‑week traffic and charter memberships.
Presenters thanked a mix of private industry and non‑profit partners and noted that the governor visited the facility; a county official said the state announced an additional half‑million dollars through a Destination Iowa grant to help close the project funding gap. “That half million gets us closer,” a presenter said, describing how returned ARPA (Destination Iowa) funds were reallocated to projects that were ready and on schedule.
Board members and presenters discussed operations including staffing the aquatics director role, potential employer membership reimbursement, and volunteer/donor fundraising to close a small remaining budget shortfall. The board expressed support and asked staff to continue exploring grant and sponsor opportunities before committing county general funds.
Why it matters: The wellness center is a county recreational and community amenity intended to draw families and workers, provide programming (youth camps and aquatics) and play a role in economic competitiveness and workforce quality‑of‑life.
Next steps: Presenters asked the county to consider ongoing partnership and possible employee incentive models (for example partial employee reimbursement) but presented no formal request for county subsidy at the meeting.
