MUSCATINE, Iowa — The Muscatine City Council approved plans for a new indoor sports complex late Thursday night.
City council members said the space will be used for a variety of sports throughout the year, particularly soccer in the winter time.
Muscatine officials hope the project will attract visitors in the off-season, while giving local athletes a place to train throughout the year.
"We feel our sports teams are at such a disadvantage because they only have certain places to practice during the winter," Muscatine City Council 4th Ward Representative Nadine Brockert said. "We also want to give provisions to kids who are disadvantaged to have a place where they don't have to pay to get in to play and congregate and learn some new skills."
"We've had people that live here in town that do soccer and things like that, and they're traveling great distances to either Burlington, or Iowa City, or the Quad Cities," Muscatine City Council Representative Angie Lewis said. "This can keep them local so they don't have to travel so far. But it's not just a sports dome, and I think that's one thing that's going to be exciting for us. If we decide to have an indoor car show, that's a possibility, an indoor quilt show, etcetera."
Merit Construction of Cedar Rapids won the bid for the contract. Work is expected to cost nearly $7 million and will begin this fall, wrapping up next spring.
City leaders will consider approving project contracts on August 15. After that date, they'll host an open house to answer any questions.