VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — At a Vigo County Capital Improvement Board meeting on Wednesday morning, officials laid out a recommendation for an aquatic center at Deming Park.

The recommendation comes from a feasibility study, in which Williams Architects/Aquatics recommended using the Deming Park pool as an aquatic center with the added recommendation of adding a second pool and a lazy river.

An aquatic center was identified in the study as the number one priority, with a community recreation fieldhouse as the second priority and an outdoor sports complex as the third priority.

The estimated cost for the aquatic center project at Deming Park would be between $6.9-7.6 million.

The estimated cost for a community recreation fieldhouse is between $70.9-78.4 million.

“I guess maybe the order of things was a little bit different than what I originally thought because I envisioned something and they do the data analysis, it makes a lot of sense what they’re telling us that certain things make money, certain things you have to subsidize,” Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett said.

Context Design gave the recommendation to the CIB for the outdoor sports complex. The representatives said the community fieldhouse would ideally be kept on the same campus as the outdoor complex.

No specific location was given for the sports complex and fieldhouse, but priorities to consider in determining where to put the campus were provided.

“I think what you need to do is have adaptable space for one, indoor space being our biggest need. To give you one example, Vigo County soccer is the highest participation sport in Vigo County, and we have no indoor offering. So you have 500 kids driving all winter long to Indianapolis to play indoor soccer,” David Patterson, Executive Director of Tourism in Vigo County, said.

Below are several renderings shared with the CIB at Wednesday’s meeting:

Presenters recommended a phased approach to the rollout of these projects between 2024-2029. Phase 1 would be the aquatics center, Phase 2 would be the community recreation fieldhouse, and Phase 3 would be the outdoor sports complex.

For the fieldhouse and outdoor sports complex, it is recommended to secure space of at least 100 acres, with an extra 20-25 acres as a buffer for potential expansion.

Bennett said the next step will be to do a financial analysis and look over all of the data that was given to them

He said they plan to apply for READI Grant funding again to cover some of the cost.

“The Deming Park Pool is a project that we’ve already been talking about doing, but it really makes sense to invest in that because that can happen much faster and then we can kind of deal with these other pieces down the road and still accomplish all of the things the community is looking for,” Bennett said.

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