Mark your calendars for 6 p.m. Feb. 17 to join in the conversation about a proposed activities center at Allen Community College. ACC President John Masterson recommended that anyone who’s interested in the project should plan to attend.
In preparation for the meeting, the Register sat down with Masterson to learn more about where things stand with the new center, and to provide a better understanding of how the center would benefit Iola and surrounding areas.
Masterson also recently presented his pitch for the center to the local Rotary Club.
“I think it’s important for a community to have a recreation facility,” he said, and mentioned how people currently come to walk and lift weights at the existing facility, but due to sports practices by ACC athletes, public use is more limited than it would be with a larger, more versatile center.
Masterson sees the new center as helping recruit students to ACC, providing better facilities for physical education courses, giving Allen County residents more recreational and healthy living opportunities and making Allen County more attractive to potential residents.
“We’re a community college, and I want to be able to share what we have,” he emphasized.
The college’s “wish list” for the center includes: a 200 meter indoor track with a sports field enclosed in it, stadium seating, weight room, locker rooms, a tornado storm shelter large enough for 675 people, and an indoor swimming pool.
So far Masterson has met with both the City of Iola and Allen County commissioners in order to seek out partnerships, and suggested that feedback from the city had been positive, especially given the need for such a facility in Iola and stresses on Iola’s current rec building.
He encouraged residents to approach councilmen, commissioners, and other elected officials to voice support for the project.
“Talk to people about whether you think it’s a good idea for the city and the county to partner with us to make this work,” he said.
Masterson has also received estimates on what certain features of the center might cost.
The indoor track with netting, seating, weight room, and locker rooms is estimated at $12 million. The community storm shelter is estimated at $1 million. And a 6-lane, 75 ft. pool with a zero-entry is estimated at $10 million.
City and county officials, Masterson said, were receptive to installing a storm shelter.
Given potential costs in order to build a pool, Masterson said, “We just have to have money from the outside … I don’t see any way that we could do it without having [buy-in from] all three entities: the city, the county, and [ACC].”
Once St. Luke’s takes the helm at Allen County Regional Hospital, it is possible they might financially support building a community pool as well.
