Members of the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission are looking into available options hoping to find an additional $3 million for a multipurpose building.
The Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department has identified roughly $5 million for a new multipurpose building, but commission members have indicated a desire for a facility that is likely to cost about $8 million. At the commission meeting Tuesday, department director Bill Lockwood presented a letter Tom Kaleko, a financial advisor who has worked for the city on other issues.
Kaleko's letter states the department would need to generate an additional $250,000 per year to pay debt service for the multipurpose building to be able to construct an $8 million facility, something which he noted is not likely.
Kaleko then outlined several other options for finding the additional funds, including building the project in phases, building the project at a later date and continuing to save money for a larger facility, or conduct a capital campaign to fund a portion of the project.
Kaleko also mentioned the possibility of charging a "park impact fee," which Lockwood said is something that would assess fees on new developments. Lockwood said those fees are no popular with developers and not used in many cities in the state, noting it would be a "long shot" to try to establish one in Jefferson City.
The additional $3 million the commission is hoping to find would help fund additional lobby space, additional parking, one more court and a running track in the multipurpose building, Lockwood said.
No decisions were made on any of Kaleko's potential alternatives, but Lockwood noted the commission would continue to discuss ways to construct the facility desired.
"We've talked about those (alternatives) and probably will revisit those," Lockwood said.