WCRF considers request for massive school athletic facility

WASHINGTON — Washington school district Activities Director Nathan Miller met with members of the Washington County Riverboat Foundation board Tuesday night, where he pitched a $4 million funding request for a massive indoor sports facility.

Renderings and concept art shared by Miller at the meeting showed a 60-yard indoor football turf, eight 45 m sprinting lanes, a 3,200 square foot weight room and a golf simulator room, among other amenities. The building would have myriad uses, from indoor practices during bad weather to a community event location to a place for students to train between games.

“This is a project that has been in thought for many, many years,” Miller said. “Having a facility like this really meets a lot of needs.”

The endeavor was jump-started by a separate $4 million donation, from an anonymous donor who offered it explicitly for a field house like the one Miller presented Tuesday night.

That donor also attended WCRF’s meeting this week, but spoke to The Union on the condition that his anonymity be maintained until the facility is fully funded. He said he hoped the project would drive up the district’s curb appeal, bringing new families to town so Washington’s schools and city can grow.

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“My wife and I have been talking about making a major legacy gift, so we can make an impact on more than one person or one group, that impacts the whole city,” he said. “I think it’d be a great project, like Nathan said, that’s a reason for families to move here and raise their kids … Washington has always been kind of a bedroom community for Iowa City, and I think it creates that opportunity to be greater.”

In total, the project would come out around $9-10 million, according to Miller, who said it would be organized through the school’s booster club, and spend only donated money, not taxpayer funds.

Between the first anonymous gift, a handful of private donations and a $30,000 commitment from the Washington Betterment Foundation, the group has already raised about $4.24 million, according to Miller.

“There will not be any school district funds applied, the primary reason is it provides us the greatest flexibility for control of the bidding process,” he said. “When schools have to bid it out, there’s many contractors, large contractors, who jack the prices up, so it becomes very unattainable to build this kind of building.”

No decision yet from Riverboat

WCRF Executive Director Patty Koller stressed that the nonprofit would make no decision on the requested seven-digit grant until a later date. Board members did, however, ask a handful of rapid-fire questions at Tuesday’s presentation.

Miller replied to each of the queries in turn: the building would be maintained by the school but wouldn’t require new staff, reservations could likely be made online, the location would require moving the current baseball field but wouldn’t destroy any of its lights or other amenities, construction would ideally start in 2027, and take 18-24 months to complete.

Asked about the community’s support for another $1-1.5 million, assuming organizers win the major Riverboat grant they’ve requested, Miller said he believed local businesses, groups and people would donate enough to bring the fundraising campaign across the finish line.

“(Banks) have given me support, saying they are going to be interested in donating, same with the organizations that we have in town, whether it’s noon Kiwanis, the A.M.’ers, the positive reflection that we’ve had and the input has been good,” he said. “We will continue to work to fundraise it.”

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Some Riverboat decision-makers at the presentation said they’d likely support a verbal commitment of the cash, even if the nonprofit doesn’t sign an actual grant until the rest of the building’s funding is secured, after Miller said that kind of announcement would help build momentum.

“We’d like to be toward the end, but we understand on a project of this magnitude, that it could potentially help you get to you $10 million if you have funding right away,” said WCRF Board President Jim Hauth.

That’s not to say the project’s future or funding are at all certain. One elephant in the room went unaddressed at Tuesday night’s meeting: the Riverboat Foundation may have less cash in its coffers by the time the building’s finished, thanks to a now under-construction competing casino in Cedar Rapids.

If the development siphons away revenue from the Riverside Casino — WCRF’s sole funding source — it’s not clear how attainable a $4 million ask like the schools’ might be. Past Foundation Board President Stephanie Sexton said last year that the nonprofit stood to lose much of its budget if the Cedar Rapids facility went through, a remark she made months before the proposal got the go-ahead from state officials in February.

“The partnership with this stunning venue has contributed significantly to our region’s identity, to our nonprofits and to our communities,” she said at a banquet for the group’s grant recipients. “We need our voices heard … so that this foundation and your nonprofits can continue to look forward to a future of possibilities and a future of opportunities.”

Koller said the foundation would begin committee meetings at the end of April, where the requested grant will be discussed. She added that this year’s WCRF grant announcement date is May 21.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com