Jackson compares with Nixa on growth

BUILDING POOLS

By Sam Blackwell ~ Southeast Missourian

JACKSON, Mo. -- The Missouri cities of Jackson and Nixa could be east-west twins. Both have the atmosphere and advantages of small town life but saw phenomenal growth during the 1990s that put pressure on them to keep up with the demand for new infrastructure.

Nixa just opened a sparkling new community recreation center and aquatic center on a 37-acre site. Jackson has been exploring the possibilities for the past five years and now is ready to proceed.

The response to the facilities, open just 2 1/2 weeks, has overwhelmed Nixa officials. They had budgeted $100,000 in annual revenue for the pool. In those few weeks the city has taken in $60,000, including $30,000 in pool passes.

"The pool is a grand slam," says city administrator Brian Bingle.

The 36,000-square-foot community recreation center includes a gym with six basketball goals, a walking trail, volleyball courts, classroom areas and a cafe. City officials expected young people to use the facilities because they are located near schools, but they were surprised by how many seniors come every day.

The drive to build a community center in Jackson stalled over the past few years amid uncertainty over whether the Jackson public schools would partner with the city in the project. The schools also were trying to pass bond issues for other purposes during that period, and the city didn't want to present a competing issue.

But last week, Jackson Mayor Paul Sander said the schools are about to issue a report on their capital plans that should determine the city's next move. "We'll know whether they want to be a partner in the project or we go by ourselves," he said. "Then we can get the ball rolling."

Nixa did not seek participation from its schools in the community center, Bingle said, but now is considering how the two entities might work together to develop another need: neighborhood parks.

Growing near Springfield

Nixa is a bedroom community near Springfield, Mo. Until 1999, it was having problems of its own developing a community center. Surveys showed residents wanted a new community center, but the city does not have a park tax. Voters rejected every tax proposal put forward to pay for the center.

Then the announcement in 1999 that a new Wal-Mart Super Center was locating in Nixa led the board of aldermen to commit part of the anticipated $400,000 in new sales tax revenue to the community center.

Wal-Mart wasn't the only reason this was possible, Bingle said. "The city experienced a multitude of commercial activity."

The following year the city put a $4.1 million bond issue on the ballot to pay for construction and land development. Voters were asked for permission to borrow the money, not a tax increase. Seventy-six percent of those who voted in the election approved.

The city also obtained $900,00 in grants toward the project and has received about $190,000 in corporate donations. More than half of that $190,000 came from companies that used Youth Opportunity Program tax credits.

Pepsi paid $70,000 for the right to place its logo on the basketball court.

Nixa also received a five-year commitment from St. John's Health Care System of Springfield to lease the second floor of the center as a gym. The lease is contributing one-third of the amount of the bond indebtedness, Bingle said.

If the health-care organization decides to leave after the lease is up, Bingle is confident increased tax revenue will enable the city to make up the difference.

Sander likes what he has heard about the facilities Nixa has built.

"It may be worth a trip out there," he said.

Shawna Flannery, Nixa's parks and recreation superintendent, said every small city should try to do something like this. Negative comments usually are heard when a city does anything, she said, but the community center has gotten a different response.

"This is the best goodwill that could happen for a community."

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182