(Audubon) The Audubon Rec Center, which opened in 2018, does not include a full sized gym. Soon, it will. The Audubon Recreation Foundation was recently awarded a Community Attraction and Tourism Grant.
Doug Olsen, with the Audubon Recreation Foundation, says the initial plans for the facility had to be scaled back in order to start construction. The $390,000 grant will inch them closer to their original vision. “We got that on our original build as well. Didn’t expect to get it as quickly as we did. We had to go down last week and present to their committee. They awarded it to us on the spot. We were very surprised. That’s not something they typically do, but we knew we had all of our ducks in a row and it worked out in our favor.”
Olsen explains adding a full size gym will allow them to re-purpose their previous basketball space for added offerings. “With the full size gym there will be a full court going north and south and then two courts going east and west. There will be two lanes of walking, specifically designated for a walking area. We’ll re-purpose the existing basketball area into a weight lifting and exercise equipment area. There will be a lot more amenities for everybody.”
The latest boost pushes the fundraising effort to $1.7 million The target is $2 million. “We are confident we’ll be able to raise the remainder of that. We are going to go ahead and move forward with the project. We are working on getting the specs now for the concrete and the footings. We hope to get those bids out this week or next week and get that work done at least this fall.”
If everything comes together then they are looking at finishing the project within a year.
