Recreation group asks Wright County for bridge financing to complete $7 million community center

John Rohrer, a representative of a nonprofit recreation group incorporated in 2023, asked the Wright County Board of Supervisors to consider providing bridge financing to complete a planned community recreation center. "Our new design has a cost of 7,000,000," Rohrer said, and added that the group currently has "$4,600,000 pledged."

Rohrer described the single-story facility's amenities, including cardio and weight rooms, a three-lane walking track, two basketball courts, a turf area, locker rooms and a meeting room that could be leased for events. He said the center would be available to local students during scheduled early-outs and would provide opportunities for seniors to exercise indoors during winter months.

The presenter said the project initially was estimated at about $10.2 million and was scaled back to lower costs. He said the city has indicated it would take ownership of the facility after it is paid for but that municipal bonding creates liability concerns for the city. "The city said there's up to $2,000,000 bonding capacity," Rohrer said, but added that issuing bonds could make the facility a city project and place the debt burden on the municipality.

Supervisors asked how bridge financing would be drawn and repaid. Rohrer said construction would likely take 18—6 to 24 months and that some pledges are payable over five years; he said the nonprofit would not start construction until it believed the full $7,000,000 could be pledged or otherwise secured, and that phasing elements (for example, completing one basketball court before the other) was an option to lower immediate costs. The board did not take action on the request during the meeting.