Fairmont city council votes to kick-start community center project

FAIRMONT, Minn. (KEYC) - Fairmont’s city council has voted to kick-start the town’s community center project.

Fairmont’s Community Center has been a long developing project in the community, and the project remains at the forefront for seven years since its initial proposal.

The project aims to partner with the YMCA to build a new athletic and community building, that would also give local hockey groups, who currently play at the Martin County Arena on the edge of town, a new place to call home.

The community center has been start-and-stop for a while, but in the past couple weeks, the Fairmont City Council voted to re-dedicate $14 million of available funds to the center, kicking the project into gear once again.

“[We] really looked at doing it in a phased approach again at this point in time.” explained Fairmont City Administrator Cathy Reynolds. “With the YMCA portion moving forward, while we’re looking for the additional funding that will be needed to do the complete buildout that includes the ice arena.”

Some community members, however, are concerned that the plans have changed too much since the initial proposal, that many are unsure of what exactly is included in the current plans, and that the community center could give extra competition to businesses that already exist in Fairmont.

“A lot of proposals for senior citizens, for youth in the community, as far as we know have been taken out,” said Bill Cieslinski of Citizens for a Strong Fairmont. “But the biggest thing is, no one knows, after seven years, exactly what’s going to be in the proposal.”

The city will next hire someone to lobby state lawmakers for funding for the project.

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