(Sidney) — Sidney city officials hope that grant funding available later this spring can be a catalyst for a new community fitness center.
At its regular meeting earlier this week, the Sidney City Council discussed upcoming grant opportunities for the city, with much of the focus on recreational or smaller projects. Sidney Mayor Justin Shirley tells KMA News that while the council has longer-term aspirations for infrastructure and housing projects, much of the grant funding available next month is focused on recreation, presenting an opportunity to fund a new fitness center.
“The grants that are out there in April are more centered around smaller projects, recreation, fitness, and those kinds of things,” said Shirley. “So, I think we’re going to shift our focus over the next month or so towards writing some grants to further ourselves in the process for the Sidney Community Fitness Center.”
Shirley says the city has acquired a variety of workout equipment through donations and grants, which are currently housed under the Sidney Elementary school gym, with some public access. But, because an agreement on a lease for the space could not be reached, the mayor says the city is exploring options for where to place a fitness center.
“We’re looking at probably tryin to build our own (center) or getting some grant funding for a new city shop and make the current city shop at city hall into the fitness center,” said Shirley. “There’s a lot of different options on the table and it’s just going to come down to what is the most feasible from a cost standpoint and from a utility standpoint for the city and it’s citizens.”
While much of Monday’s discussion focused on short-term recreational opportunities, Shirley says the city has some longer-term goals, including upgrading existing streets, water, and sewer lines, and laying the groundwork for a new housing development.
“I know long term we want to look at funding for a housing development, which would be a lot of infrastructure,” said Shirley. “So, we’d have to probably look at other state and federal grants for things like that.”
Sidney is also one of the 51 communities in the region that have been earmarked for a portion of the Charles E. Lakin Foundation’s $165 million “Revitalize Southwest Iowa” Initiative. At a previous meeting, Shirley indicated that housing is one of the initiative’s main priorities, with funding likely available in future fiscal years.
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