For the third time in three weeks, a Lake Charles City Council meeting agenda includes a vote to select the site of the city’s new indoor sports complex.
The council will decide whether the former Capital One tower site will be the location for the indoor sports facility, which is being funded by $23 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds. The regularly scheduled meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.
Originally, the council was set to vote on the item during its Oct. 1 meeting, but it amended the item and approved more examination of the viability of the Capital One Tower site and a 7.5-acre property on North Goos Boulevard, which was offered to the city as a donation. The city then put the item on the agenda for Tuesday’s special meeting before its agenda meeting. However, the vote was deferred when Ronnie Harvey, councilman for District A, where both sites are located, was unable to attend.
“There was already a special meeting scheduled for that evening, and it was felt the item could be taken up and voted upon rather than wait another week,” Mayor Marshall Simien told The Advocate. “… Subsequent discussion during the agenda meeting which followed the special meeting resulted in additional due diligence having to be conducted in order to provide the City Council with a more complete report to assist in its decision.”
In addition, the city is still researching the former Capital One Tower property and North Goos Boulevard location. It plans to report its findings to the council for consideration, according to Simien.
The plan is for the city to build the facility with eight basketball courts that can be converted into volleyball courts and pickleball courts as well as a fitness center. The recent debate has focused on potential locations.
The proposed resolution to be voted on Wednesday is to build the facility on the former Capital One Tower site, which the city owns. Previously, the site was considered for a new amphitheater.
Simien said a total of eight sites were considered based upon various recommendations made by the City Council and administration.
“The site assessments identified sites that would not comply with the federal grant provisions and others that either would be a challenge to acquire under the current deadline to disburse the grant funds or which failed to meet acquisition requirements under Louisiana law,” Simien said. “There has been no site selected, only a recommendation to select a site.
“The recommended site is currently owned by the city, is located within an economic development district that captures a portion of the state’s sales taxes to be used locally, and is located in the required low-moderate income mapped area.”
One of the sites was on Fitzenreiter Road, a location favored by some council members and residents. However, the property owner wanted $1.2 million for the site, while the city couldn’t exceed its appraised value of $830,000, City Administrator John Cardone previously told The Advocate.
To potentially bring the facility to north Lake Charles, the Rev. Samuel Tolbert — pastor of Greater Saint Mary Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Greater Saint Mary Community Development Foundation — offered to donate a 7.5-acre property on North Goss Boulevard during the Oct. 1 council meeting.
“We’re offering the property as an option if you can’t work out negotiation of the Fitzenreiter site,” Tolbert said at the meeting. “I like the Fitzenreiter site better because it’s right on the lake … but the site we’re offering is not far from the lake, also.”
Some council members and community members said during the meeting that the former Capital One Tower site would bring in more money for the city due to its downtown location.
However, Marks said he spoke to the organization giving the city the grant, and they said the city can’t keep any revenue generated from the sports facility.
“If we’re not making I’m going to just say enough money to put that facility on a $2.9 million piece of property and factor in what we will have to do (to make the parking garage usable), it doesn’t make good business sense,” Marks said. “If we (were) making a lot of money and generating revenue like a hotel on that site, then I could see (it).”
Simien said that preliminary research confirms the statement is true, but that the city is conducting further research to determine the parameters and duration of limitations on receipt of program income.