Brooklyn Park City Council Votes for Dist. 279 Sports Dome
Brooklyn Park is getting a sports dome. In a special meeting Monday night, the city council voted unanimously to approve building the dome at Park Center High School. Public comments for the measure were enthusiastic.
Resident Cathy Epding said she’s totally in favor of the dome.
“I do think that this is kind of a point in time where things are coming together,” said Epding. “And if the dome isn’t built now it will be years before we have an opportunity like this.”
A Joint Partnership
The $7.7 million dome will be built under a joint powers agreement. That makes each partner responsible for part of the construction and maintenance.
The city will pay just under $3.5 million, and be responsible for erecting the dome support building. That building houses equipment and will also store the dome when it’s taken down for summer. The city will also pay for lighting, community-use sporting equipment, and repairs to the dome beyond routine maintenance.
Meanwhile the Osseo School District will dedicate just over $4.25 million for its contribution, including buying the synthetic turf, building a parking lot, and routine maintenance.
Both partners will pay half each for costs related to dome setup and teardown, and for utilities.
Well-used dome
Mayor Jeff Lunde said the dome will see a lot of use. “We are not gonna suffer from lack of users,” he said. “Because I’ve traveled all over the metro just to get practice time or clinics.” Lunde said local residents would use the Brooklyn Park dome because “who wants to drive 40 minutes to Monticello to do something when they can drive 10 minutes and have practices.”
The next step is having an architect design the dome support building – in a companion resolution the council voted unanimously to dedicate $35,000 – about half of the estimated cost – to starting that process.
Park Center Senior High School
