It has been on the top of the wishlist for the community for well over a decade, and there is now hope that the wish may finally come true.
On Tuesday, the Owatonna City Council approved an agreement with ICS consultants to develop a scope of work for constructing a community center in Owatonna. The agreement also includes supporting staff in providing community engagement opportunities that will help determine the size and scale of the project.
“Owatonna’s need for a community center has been discussed more frequently in recent years,” said City Council President Greg Schultz. ”Based on feedback from community members, we realize this needs to be a top priority.”
Decades of dreaming
Initiatives to bring a community center to Owatonna date back to 1978, when several people tried to pass a $2.2 million bond referendum for a new recreation facility. Another referendum for a community center was shot down in 1995.
Developing a community center in Owatonna started to become a major point of discussion again in January 2013, when a grassroots group titled the Steele County Sports and Wellness Initiative, held its first stakeholder session and community input meeting to gauge the community’s interest in bringing a sports and wellness center to Steele County — also known as a community center. The group had initially formed the year prior and would later be renamed the Community Center Initiative in 2015.
The meetings — totalling 17 sessions — were part of a feasibility study being done by Ballard, King and Associates, paid for with money raised by the grassroots group of upwards of $22,000. The Colorado-based company was brought in as an outside consultant to evaluate if the people of Steele County even want more facilities. The study had a three-phase approach, with the first step including a market analysis with statistical and data collection of income levels and spending potential of the community, as well as examining alternative service providers and community engagement. The firm then evaluated the findings to bring a program recommendation to the committee for a plan of action, with the final phase evaluating how much a facility would cost.
In 2013, Tracy Ackman-Shaw said she would like to see a space where children can go and play throughout the year, where they aren’t limited by cold weather.
“There’s nothing to do during the winter months for young children,” she said. “(I’d like to see) a dedicated space, like an indoor playground where adults can participate with their young kids ... something that has activities for children and adults to interact. I see that as a very large need for this community.”
Features people expressed interest in were an indoor pool, cardio and weight lifting areas, group exercise rooms, climbing walls, massage therapy, meeting rooms, childcare areas, a snack bar that offers healthy options, a tournament facility capable of hosting large athletic tournaments and a field house with an indoor track.
The firm proposed in June 2013 a facility that would include a four-court gymnasium, an auxiliary gym with two more courts for high velocity sports, an indoor running track, an indoor aquatic component focused on family accessibility, a fitness area with cardio machines, weight-training equipment and rooms for group fitness classes and an indoor playground to give families a place to bring children in the winter months.
The Steele County Sports and Wellness Initiative worked with an architect in 2014 to draw up the 20-acre, 110,000 square-foot schematic that features room for six basketball courts, children’s play areas and pools. Later that year, the group had also proposed a potential partnership with a new high school to encompass the community space — a question that was first asked in 1996 through an Owatonna School District survey.
The grassroots group also proposed to the Owatonna City Council that a half-percent local sales tax hike could help fund the construction of a new community center, estimating a cost of $25 million in 2014. The group planned to raise $5 million of the costs through private donations, and have the sales tax hike fund the project over 10 years.
A ballot initiative on the sales tax then would have had to be put to the voters in November 2015, and if approved, would have had to be approved by the Minnesota Legislature during its 2016 session.
The Community Center Initiative went to the sidelines in 2015, when many of the same committee members wanted to get behind the school bond referendum instead, eventually allowing several Owatonna schools to be updated and the building of the new high school that opened in 2023.
Also in 2015, however, a group named Owatonna Forward formed, supporting both the bond referendum and highlighting areas the community would need to focus to continue growing and moving forward for a better Owatonna in the future. One of those items identified by the group includes a community center.
The next steps
City staff will work with ICS to provide opportunities for community members to provide input about potential locations, features and amenities for a new community center. This input will help develop a scope of work that will be used to estimate the cost of the project. Then, based on estimates, funding sources will need to be identified.
“There are a series of steps needed to provide City Council with the information needed to determine whether constructing a new Community Center is feasible and aligns with our constituents wishes,” Schultz said.
The next steps in considering the construction of a new community center are anticipated in coming weeks and include conducting a survey to gather community input regarding the services and amenities the Community Center should include and creating a Community Center Task Force comprised of community members to help shape the scope of the project.
Addressing Owatonna’s need for a community center is part of the city’s long-term facilities needs analysis. The City Council and staff are taking steps to address and plan near- and long-term infrastructure needs in a way that delivers the highest value for taxpayers. Owatonna’s Long Range Asset Plan is guiding decisions on how to address improvements on current facilities as well as how to plan, grow and invest in Owatonna’s future facilities.
The agreement with ICS consultants also includes updating public safety facilities within the city.
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