(ABC 6 News) — The new sports and recreation complex has been a hot topic recently for the Rochester City Council.
Related: Rochester City Council approves first design for sports complex
However, before members could discuss the next steps of the project at Monday’s study session, a group of community members, including lawmakers Kim Hicks and Tina Liebling, spoke out against how those plans are moving along.
Rep. Hicks said it’s all about community, but that Rochester community doesn’t feel it’s being listened to.
They are asking the city to go back to the drawing board and redesign the complex plans with more community input.
There has been concern with the city prioritizing outdoor facilities over indoor ones, considering many outdoor spaces will be out of use for months of the year due to Minnesota winters.
The other big problem community members have had is the prioritization of new tournaments over the youth and families who voters were promised this project would be for.
“This is our community. This is our tax dollars and we want to be able to use it. We want to be included in the conversation,” said Rep. Hicks.
The City of Rochester considers those tournaments a big part of having the complex because of the tourism they will encourage, and the economic boost that they will bring to the community.
As the rest of the structure of the operating agreement comes together, then I think all of these things are going to be discussed to understand the right balance of performance,” said Chad Faulkner, the CEO of Sports Academy.
The project is on target to kick off construction this November, but concerned community members wonder, what is the rush if the city has 10 years to use the money?
Rep. Hicks said if the City Council doesn’t listen to community demands, she is prepared to author a bill to rework the sports complex portion of the 2023 revisions to the local sales tax.
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