ROCHELLE — For the past several months Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District officials have shared detailed plans for building a new community recreation center on its Helms South property.

The plans called for a project to be built in two phases with an aquatic center being added a few years after the initial construction.

At Monday night’s regular monthly park board meeting, the board not only looked at new options for the aquatic center but also decided to eliminate the two-phase plan with intentions of building the entire $14 million complex – including the pool area– all at one time.

Flagg Township voters will consider a park district referendum proposition on the April 2 consolidated election ballot asking for authority to issue a maximum amount of general obligation bonds in the amount of $14 million to build the facility.

Park director Jackee Ohlinger said she is organizing several upcoming public presentations to allow local residents a chance to see the plans and understand what is being asked of them on the ballot.

“We’ve spoken to some community club groups already and we will be holding other public meetings soon,” she stated.

The proposal calls for an 80,000 square-foot building just west of Walgreens, featuring a large indoor field turf playing surface that could host a variety of athletic events, a large gymnasium with two courts, a fitness center with weights and cardio equipment, an aquatic center with both a competitive pool and recreational pool, multi-purpose meeting and classroom spaces, a perimeter walking path, locker rooms, public gathering areas, storage areas and staff offices.

According to estimates, if the park district manages to secure the funding through tax dollars, a home owner with a property valued at $150,000 would expect to pay approximately $80 per year in additional taxes to pay for the construction of the facility.

Operations of the center would be paid for through monthly usage memberships, daily fees, sports tournaments and space rental agreements.

Pool plans

Original phase two plans included adding a large competitive lap style swimming pool, but on Monday night design consultants from Ringland-Johnson presented a plan to incorporate both a competition lap pool and a separate recreational pool for general swimming and aerobics programs that would be built immediately with the rest of the facility.

Engineer’s explained that building the aquatic center with the rest of the facility will keep pool construction costs lower, and the lap pool could be kept at a lower temperature than the recreational pool, which would also help keep energy costs down.

“We’ve got 40 days until the referendum and I think we need to decide whether to go with just phase one first or build it all together,” park board president Tim Hayden told the rest of the board. “We want to be clear with what we are doing during the presentations.”

Several commissioners were in favor of including the aquatic center all in one phase.

“I think we need phase one and phase two built at the same time,” said board member Dale Wells.

“I agree,” commissioner BT Carmichael echoed. “Construction can be a real mess and it would be much better to get it all done at the same time.”

“I think that’s what the public wants too,” Hayden added.

“It’s best for savings costs, so I would like to see it all built at one time,” commissioner John Dobbs stated.

Ohlinger said she would include the aquatic center as part of the original project during her public presentations, which will be announced soon.