Leaders face task of next steps for aquatic center

Cape Girardeau's proposed aquatic center remains a concept, not a finalized plan, despite voter approval of a bond issue Tuesday.

Two former mayors and the Cape Girardeau public schools superintendent said they will work to secure added funding and a detailed plan to construct and operate such an indoor facility on the Jefferson Elementary School campus.

Former Mayors Jay Knudtson and Harry Rediger said they plan to meet as early as next week with Mayor Bob Fox, city manager Scott Meyer, Cape Girardeau public schools superintendent Neil Glass, school board president Kyle McDonald and Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president John Mehner to discuss how best to proceed.

Knudtson said added funding could come from grants as well as private donations.

Glass vowed to "pursue every opportunity" to secure added funding. He said some grants might be available.

Knudtson said there are three or four people who expressed interest in investing in the project, but initially were waiting to see if the bond issue passed and how donations would be handled.

Voters approved a $12 million school bond issue, which included $4 million toward construction of an aquatic center to replace aging Central Municipal Pool.

Coupled with $6 million from the city, which previously was approved by voters in extending the parks and stormwater tax, the project now has $10 million in funding.

Knudtson and Rediger began working to secure private funding for the project before the election. "We are a committee of two," Rediger said of the fundraising effort so far.

Before the election, the two men announced an anonymous donor had pledged $1.5 million in matching funds toward the project.

The donor would provide $1 million if the committee raises another $2 million, according to Rediger. The donor would contribute another $500,000 if the committee raises an identical amount.

The two former mayors have suggested it would take $15 million to construct an indoor center that would include a 50-meter, competitive pool.

Knudtson said such a facility can't be built without a public/private partnership.

Rediger said, "I am confident we can get $5 million (to supplement the $10 million)."

But Knudtson said even that amount is not a firm figure, and it may not be economically feasible to construct that large of a pool.

The planning effort going forward needs to "nail down expectation," he said.

A committee of city and school representatives spent months last year studying the feasibility of such a project and where to build it. That committee's work ended without any firm decisions on the project's size and scope.

Voters twice -- in April 2018 in extending the city tax and earlier this week in passing the school bond issue -- approved the aquatic project with incomplete plans, Knudtson said.

Voters, he said, effectively gave a "blank check" to the project.

Knudtson said the project, as approved, is a departure from past projects Cape Girardeau voters approved. In those cases, the projects were well defined before the elections, he said.

Knudtson said he and Rediger made a public commitment to bring the project to reality. "We staked our reputations on this," he said.

Knudtson and Rediger said they believe a key to passage of the bond issue was the commitment of school officials not to issue $4 million in bonds for an aquatic center until plans have been finalized.

That promise was vital to securing support for the bond issue from those involved in competitive swimming, he and Rediger said.

Without such a promise, Knudtson said, the bond issue may not have passed. He said he and others didn't want to see funding for a number of school improvements jeopardized by uncertainty over the aquatic center project.

School officials said before the election they have had discussions with YMCA officials about that organization possibly partnering in the project.

But Knudtson said there is no certainty there will be a YMCA component to the project. If there is such a component, it would be in programming, he said. "They don't bring money to the table."

Knudtson said the planning process needs to be transparent. "I know that these decisions do not need to be made in smoke-filled rooms," he said.

Neither Knudtson nor Rediger have a timetable for finalizing the project.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641