Athletic Park renovation: Anderson Redevelopment Commission approves $38 million

The city of Anderson has big renovation plans for the long-defunct Athletic Park.  As IPR’s Thomas Ouellette reports, the Anderson Redevelopment Commission recently approved spending $38 million on a project that will take years to complete.

After closing to the public in 2007 due to vandalism, Anderson Mayor Thomas Broderick, Jr. is hoping to remodel Athletic Park as a hub for community entertainment.

Broderick’s plan includes a water park with a lazy river and slides, several event spaces, and a large open lawn for year round use.

He says early estimates have the project costing about $45 million. He asked for $38 million to come from the Anderson Redevelopment Commission through “tax increment financing” funding – that’s tax money saved for use in a specific area.

Previously, the commission had committed $20 million to the revitalization of Athletic Park. According to Broderick, this current concept is actually a scaled-back version of a previous project draft that was estimated to cost even more.

“As we move down the pike with our project, we’re getting more realistic about what the price would be.” He said. “Our original scope was just a lot more than we could handle, around $54 million”

Broderick said in addition to an anticipated $2.6 million from the general fund, the city is also in the final stages of receiving a READI 2.0 grant of roughly $4 million. 

Read More: Gov. Mike Braun praises READI grants, but did not include in new state budget

He said the plan would be to pay back the money used for Athletic Park through a 20-year bonding process.

Redevelopment commission member Pete Bitar voiced criticism over investing so much money into such a project without any market research on whether it’s wanted.

“And here we are with one meeting, one quick presentation, no real data, no real numbers other than here’s what it’s going to cost, but nothing else, nothing in terms of forecast or ROI or anything,” said Bitar.

Also addressed during the meeting was the issue of Athletic Park being located just across the river from the current Madison County Jail. Broderick says the jail will come down and the space will be used for future economic development once the new county facility is finished.

Read More: Madison County approves construction contract for new jail

Bitar was joined by Danny McGhee in voting no on the resolution, which passed with three yes votes.  

Broderick has said the current site plan is subject to change and hasn’t given any estimated construction or completion dates.

Thomas Ouellette is an IPR reporter and producer. Contact him at thomas.ouellette@bsu.edu