NORTH MANKATO, Minn. — More courts at Caswell Park. A combination field house and dome setup. And reconfigured parking in the area.
Those are some of the ideas the North Mankato City Council and city staff discussed during a work session Monday afternoon. North Mankato plans to seek public works dollars from the Minnesota Legislature for at least part of a planned sports complex and softball park renovation at Caswell Park that could start construction as early as 2021.
"That's the key, is what can we afford," North Mankato Mayor Mark Dehen said.
Dehen and city staff shed light on a few more details behind the sports complex, which North Mankato has discussed for years. The city has hoped to partner with Mankato and other nearby communities to create an indoor recreational center, but the topic has gained renewed interest over the past few months now as Minnesota State University moved forward with a $4 million inflatable dome on campus.
Local leaders see a Caswell sports complex as a way to address other needs within the community. Dehen said the city's looking into a covered complex with many courts of various sizes for basketball, volleyball, tennis and pickleball, among other sports. The mayor dismissed a full-size fieldhouse as too costly, but he said the city could operate a potential combination field house and permanent dome.
North Mankato plans to finalize a sports complex proposal by the end of the month as part of the city's legislative requests this year. City officials will seek public works bonding dollars to renovate Caswell Park's softball complex, which was built in 1987.
City officials haven't yet estimated what a renovation would cost, but Dehen said a renovation project could include redoing the parking lot, fixing some field issues, and sprucing up lighting, concessions and bathrooms.
"This is an opportunity for us to at least map it out at this point," he said.
While some area lawmakers are hopeful the Legislature will take up a bonding bill this session, bonding is normally approved during even-numbered years, which is why city officials aren't expecting a renovation request to move far in 2019. Instead, North Mankato staff hope their request will be included in a bill in 2020 with the project ready to begin in 2021.
North Mankato isn't the only city looking for renovation dollars for sports complexes, however. St. Cloud is asking for $16 million, about two-thirds the cost of a planned $24 million renovation for its city-owned athletic complex. Roseville also is looking into a similar request.
City Administrator John Harrenstein believes the city has a strong case for legislative funding. Caswell Park annually hosts the state high school softball tournament, as well as various national and international softball tournaments that generate tourism dollars for the region.
"There's a clear argument to be made that Caswell is serving a statewide benefit," Harrenstein said.
Other council members concurred. Jim Whitlock called Caswell Park a "world-renowned facility" with plenty of local support while Diane Norland suggested selling off the naming rights to Caswell Park's softball space as a way to help offset user fees.
"We've got a Target Field in the Cities. What about a Target Field here?" she said.
Council members also pointed out a sports complex could become a draw for people to move to the community, as well as improve the area's economic development and quality of life. Dehen, Harrenstein and other North Mankato officials say the sports complex has to be self-sustainable for the city to move forward, however.
City officials also will continue lobbying for a half-percent food and beverage sales tax. Harrenstein said the proposal, which the city first made in 2017, requests legislative approval for up to 1 percent of sales tax money mirroring a similar proposal Mankato made several years ago.
Mankato only takes a half-percent, but the Mankato City Council could potentially bump its sales tax portion up to the full 1 percent this year.
North Mankato's request would provide $35,000 to $40,000 annually for operating expenses at Caswell Park. The city could also partner with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission to seek funding to build the new sports complex.
Dehen and other council members want to hold off on using part of the city's $9 million in local option sales tax funding that lawmakers approved in 2017 as a last-ditch funding option, as that money could be used for other projects such as a Taylor Library expansion, parks improvements or downtown area touch-ups.
If all goes well, the council will finalize its legislative proposals during its Jan. 28 work session and formally approve them during a Feb. 4 public meeting.
