Poplar Bluff City Council expects to vote June 22 on an approximately $500,000 purchase for the Black River Coliseum to add basketball courts.
The purchase would come from COVID relief funds issued by the federal government under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
“This is the biggest project I’ve brought to you so far in regards to ARPA funding,” city manager Matt Winters explained Monday during a regular city council meeting.
The city would like to purchase three courts that would allow the Coliseum to be used in the future for basketball tournaments. The expected cost is $468,000.
The city has also tabled indefinitely discussion of opening ARPA funds to area non profits.
The city has discussed the basketball court item before, but has held off moving forward while waiting for information on the state’s release of ARPA funds, Winters said.
Winters, Lanny Corcimiglia, director of the Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation Department, and Greg Smith, director of the Coliseum, believe the community would benefit from the purchase.
It would bring more people to town for events and increase usage of the Coliseum, Winters said.
“This is something I think is needed in our community. I think it’s something that will be extremely used in our community,” he said.
Sports tourism is something that continued to be popular even through the pandemic, Winters explained.
It would likely be the summer of 2024 before the courts could be used, if approved by council, he said.
The state isn’t expected to make ARPA fund award announcements until November.
It is expected to be the first quarter of 2023 before the courts can be ordered, Winters said.
“They have a significant lead time, about 10 months from the day they’re ordered until they actually arrive,” Winters said.
The city would need to make additional purchases for the project, including six goals and a covering that would go on the floor during other events.
“Anything outside of rodeos, circuses and monster trucks, the floors can stay down the majority of the time with this cover over them,” Winters said.
The city is looking at some cost-sharing between the city general revenue fund, ARPA funds and park department for the additional items.
Before the floor is installed, there would also be a memorandum of understanding between the city, park department and other departments regarding responsibility for maintenance and other needs regarding the floors.
“We want to make sure this all is formal and documented and something for us to rely on when Lanny, Greg and I are all gone,” Winters said.
This is a big expenditure, Corcimiglia said.
“Not only youth basketball, youth volleyball, there’s a lot of numbers that go into concessions, sponsorships and commitments to downtown, as well as crossing two boundaries, the city of Poplar Bluff and the parks and recreation,” he said.
Corcimiglia also sees an opportunity for day use of the courts.
“I don’t want to forget our commitment to downtown,” he said. “You’re going to have people coming from various places to play here and be entertained here and that also pushes toward downtown.
“But it doesn’t just leave the mark here. It leaves the mark for everybody.”
Corcimiglia has worked with other facilities that have had 80-115 teams scheduled for just six dates.
“We’re looking at recouping what we spend in a very short amount of time,” he said.
Other sports it could be used for include volleyball, pickleball and cornhole.
“I’ll work tirelessly not to let this fail,” Corcimiglia said. “If you don’t believe me or anyone else, there’s probably everybody here that has traveled somewhere else and seen something like that out there, full of people many, many times a year.”
Council member Lisa Parson agreed, sharing that her granddaughter is participating in an event in another town with 40 teams this week, with families attending, eating in restaurants and staying in hotels.
City council members had also been previously approached by members of Northside Community Center, who wished to apply for ARPA funds to help with renovations to the center.
Council members had discussed looking at how other cities were handling ARPA funds and non-profit applications.
The state has $20 million of ARPA funds that will open for non-profits this summer, Winters said. Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission may host a seminar to educate non-profits on how to apply.
Council member Jerrica Fox said a committee had looked into it because of questions from the community, but that she personally hadn’t heard from anyone since the last meeting.
The state will have much more money available than the city, she said.
“My recommendation tonight was going to be to just table it indefinitely and that we can bring it back at some point we see it be of importance,” she said.
The city has until 2024 to obligate its funds, Winters said.
“I don’t think it’s off the table by any means,” Fox said. “I think that to give an amount not really knowing the interest of the community... was my only concern.”