By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
It's been nearly a year since St. Joseph voters overwhelmingly showed their support for a half-cent sales tax increase to go toward major improvements for the city's parks and recreation facilities.
St. Joseph parks director Chuck Kempf says one of the first projects on the list that's practically done now was repairing the roof at the Missouri Theater downtown.
"That's actually, probably, one of the first projects that we were able to get initiated," Kempf said. "It needed to be. We were suffering from some damage on the inside of the theater because of the problems with the roof. So, we tried to push that project forward."
The half-cent sales tax increase, approved by more than 70 percent of city voters last August, is expected to generate $50-60 million before it sunsets in 10 years.
One of the biggest projects on the list in terms of cost is the renovation and restoration of the Krug Park Amphitheater, which is expected to cost around $12 million on its own. Kempf says that project is multi-layered.
"A lot of design, a lot of engineering, a lot of factors to take into account with Krug Park," he said. "The ADA issues, safety issues. The historical (aspect), you know there's a lot of factors that will kind of clash a little bit when we're working on that one. So, we want to make sure we have the right people involved."
Kempf says one of the biggest immediate needs was ordering equipment, and he says about half of what they ordered has arrived.
"We did get two utility vehicles delivered (last week) for the ballfield maintenance," he said. "We're waiting on a trash truck and several mowers. We're still waiting on 5-6 mowers to be delivered. Then, we'll start ordering more equipment once we get our bank account built back up again."
The parks department is set to receive $4.2 million worth of new equipment in all. Other major projects include a new Aquatic Park Lap Pool and Northside Splash Park. Kempf says the lap pool project is entering its design phase.
"We've had some surveys done and our next step is to assign a design professional," he said. "Instead of being like an architect, it'll probably be an engineering firm that will lead that process."
Kempf says there's still a long way to go, particularly on the bigger projects, but he's happy to see these long-needed improvements and projects come to fruition.
"There's a lot of good stuff going on," Kempf said optimistically. "You really kind of just want to keep the community working together and everybody heading in the same direction and understanding the importance of these types of facilities and these types of events. It's great for the community."
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