Tagged: Sports Complex

Lee County will provide money for a proposed sports complex in Fort Madison.  The decision comes after the Board of Supervisors spent weeks rejecting requests for funding.

The Vision Iowa Board has said that Fort Madison’s request for more than $800,000 will not be considered without a $25,000 contribution from the county.  The program requires city, county, and public support for a project.

It’s unclear whether Lee County’s support for a proposed sports complex in Fort Madison will lead to any state funding.  The project calls for the construction of three football/soccer fields and three softball/baseball diamonds.

The Vision Iowa Board says the county must provide at least $25,000 if the board is to act on Fort Madison’s request for more than $870,000.

The county has created a special community development fund to try to raise the money.  $1,500 has already been pledged at this point.

Lee County has started collecting money to cover its share of a potential state grant for a proposed sports complex in Fort Madison.

That is possible because the Board of Supervisors has approved the creation of a Community Development Fund.

The first donations came in shortly after the official vote.  Supervisors Rick Larkin ($1,000) and Larry Kruse ($500) pulled out their wallets and wrote their checks to back up their verbal pledges from last week.

It appears Lee County has come up with a way to contribute to a proposed sports complex in Fort Madison without using taxpayer money.

The county is being asked to provide a total of $25,000 over the next five years to the $3.4-million dollar project.  The Vision Iowa Board has said without that contribution, Fort Madison will not receive any state funding.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors has rejected previous requests for that much money, but Supervisor Larry Kruse believes a compromise has been reached.

The city of Fort Madison is going to take its turn in trying to secure funding for a proposed sports complex.

The city has already pledged $500,000 over the next two years to the construction of three football/soccer fields and three baseball/softball diamonds.

The city council will write a letter to the Lee County Board of Supervisors to try to encourage the county to increase its contribution of $3,000 over three years.

Mayor Brad Randolph asked for the letter to be placed before the council.

Fort Madison’s proposed sports complex has received another piece of bad news from the state.

Supporters traveled to Mason City to make a second pitch to the Vision Iowa Board for funding.  The task force promoting the sports complex is seeking up to $1-million to add to the $2.5-million dollars generated through public and private donations.

Unfortunately for the task force, the request for state funding was denied by an oversight committee for the Vision Iowa Board.