The Plymouth City Council members held the first reading of an ordinance Monday night that sets the pathway for funding the Aquatics Center, Early Childhood Learning Center and offices for the Marshall County Community Foundation and United Way organizations. They will be constructed on Miller Drive near the Lifeplex facility west of Plymouth.
Bonds will be issued to help fund the project. According to City Attorney Sean Surrisi, a Series A Bond is a $3.5 million bond paid for by TIF 3 revenues while the Series B Bond is a $3.150 million that will be paid through lease payments made by the City of Plymouth, Plymouth Community School Corporation and Ancilla College. The lease will be presented to the council at their next meeting on Feb. 26.
Surrisi also noted that the proceeds from the entities paying the annual lease payments will go toward paying down the debt and some goes to a capital improvement fund for long-term plans for pool equipment replacement.
The Series C note is a requirement of the new market tax credits financing which would be $3.5 million of funding coming into the project through a federal program. Regional Cities is also contributing $2 million.
The Aquatics Center, Early Childhood Learning Center and the Marshall County Community Foundation and United Way office construction project is estimated at $11.6 million. Over $5 million is coming to the city though state and federal programs.
Jerry Chavez from the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation said the Aquatics Center will be a state-of-the-art facility.
“The Aquatics Center is about 27,000 square feet of pool with two diving boards and we’re placing seats on a mezzanine. Other features include three family changing rooms and separate restroom facilities for the general public,” said Chavez.
The deck space around the pool will be enlarged to accommodate teams.
Linda Yoder from United Way said the organization has been focused on early childhood education issues and ways to solve needs in the community for pre-school education.
“There will be a childcare center on one side and it will serve about 120 children, all ages from infant care through older children as well. There will be some training facilities. We’re working with Ancilla College to kind of talk about what that’s going to look like, but the idea there is that we have professional development.”
The Plymouth City Council will review more paperwork pertaining to this project at their next meeting.
