The city is on the verge of purchasing the Fieldhouse Sports Center in southwest Springfield — if they can decide how to pay for it.
Calling it a “win-win” for the city, Director of Springfield’s Parks and Recreation Department Bob Belote told the city council at its Aug. 9 meeting that the 46,000 square-foot facility is “really one of the nicest indoor gym spaces that we have here in the Midwest.”
“It specializes obviously in basketball and volleyball, which is what the four full-sized gyms are for. But also, an assortment of other activities too with pickleball, wrestling, just different community types of events … That’s important to us because it addresses a huge need for the park system. This has been probably our No. 1 one indoor facility need for an awfully long time.”
According to the proposed council bill, the sports center also “features a full-service concessions kitchen with grill, four meeting/conference rooms, offices, parking for 344 vehicles, storage, and room for additional expansion.”
The Naugle family, which has owned the facility since it opened in 2013, approached the city about the sale and offered to take 25 percent off its estimated value as a donation to the city’s parks system, according to Belote.
The price tag for the city would be $7.5 million.
Council divided on how to pay for the Fieldhouse Sports Center
At the initial hearing, the council seemed enthusiastic about the proposed purchase — but divided on how they should pay for it.
Springfield city managers proposed borrowing through bonds $5.2 million of the $7.5 million needed. Money from the federal coronavirus aid Springfield received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) would make up the difference in the city manager’s proposal.
At the same Aug. 9, the council appropriated $8 million of the city’s $40 million ARPA fund towards the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
David Holtmann, the city’s finance director, told the council that the proposed sports center expenditure is an appropriate use of the emergency coronavirus funds.
“One of the four major categories that the city has the ability to use ARPA funds for is revenue loss, according to interim federal guidance,” Holtmann said. “Our initial calculation for revenue loss (during the pandemic) is in excess of $30 million. So, we can spend these funds for governmental purposes — governmental purposes such as the Fieldhouse sports facility project, a parks-related facility.”
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Holtmann added that the parks department specifically lost an estimated $5.2 million because of the pandemic, so “the $2 million expenditure is well within our purview.”
But one Springfield resident speaking on the project told the city council that using emergency COVID-19 relief to buy a sports facility was “irredeemable.”
“The council has totally missed the mark on identifying what emergency crises face Springfield’s population today,” said Jonathan Gartin. “Your economic priorities in my view are way out of step with the population’s needs.”
Instead, Gartin said the $40 million in emergency funds should be used for “rental relief” and “invested in permanent public housing solutions.”
“The mismanaged priorities of the council to pursue any non-essential general projects while evictions loom over the heads of our people numbering up to the thousands is an indictment against this body’s competence,” he said.
Gartin also questioned why the council had not already appropriated the funds since the American Rescue Plan Act passed in March.
Springfield Mayor Ken McClure answered that, though the act had been passed in the spring, the city had not been awarded the funds until a few weeks ago.
“It took a while for the monies to get here. Secondly, there are three years set aside for an entity such as ours to review and make recommendations. So, we followed every guideline of the federal government,” McClure told Gartin.
Refusing to accept McClure’s answer, the two proceeded to yell over one another until the mayor ordered the MSU student to leave.
Nevertheless, Gartin’s demonstration seemed to affect some members of the council.
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Amendment switches emergency COVID-19 funds for city’s “carryover” surplus funds
Councilman Andrew Lear said that he is “very much in favor of this particular project,” but that emergency ARPA funds should not be used for the purchase.
A member of the committee overseeing the ARPA funds, Lear said the committee hadn’t recommended the project.
“A committee was formed to review these ARPA funds that we’ve received … and make recommendations as a package in terms of all of our priorities,” Lear said. “Prior to having gone through that process, I believe we have another way to finance this.”
Instead, Lear proposed that the $2 million of ARPA funds be replaced with funds out of the city’s “carryover” surplus.
City Manager Jason Gage said he had not utilized the $5 million rainy-day fund in his proposal for the purchase because “we felt that the intent was to hold on” to that money “for a dire need.”
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Nevertheless, Lear proposed an amendment to the Fieldhouse Sports Center purchase — switching the emergency COVID-19 funds for the “carryover” funds.
That amendment passed in a 6-2 vote. Only Mayor McClure and Councilman Richard Ollis voted against the switch. Councilman Craig Hosmer was not present for the vote.
Because of the amendment, public comment and a final vote on the proposed purchase will continue to the council’s Aug. 23 meeting.
While casting his vote in favor of the amendment, Councilman Abe McGull said with a wry smile that Gartin “was a stronger advocate than I thought he was.”
