HELENA — The Helena Regional Sports Association's $120 million ARC project for indoor recreation at the fairgrounds is pivoting and looking for a new home.
Kelly Posewitz, the executive director for the associations says, "Unfortunately we recently met with the Lewis and Clark County Commission and the commissioners and they have decided the project is not a priority for them; therefore, we are unable to realize it at the fairgrounds on county land so we have to find a new location for the project."
The non-profit Helena Regional Sports Association has been planning and working on an indoor recreation facility since 2015 and this is not the first time the plans have changed.
The initial location was to be housed in the area of Centennial Park where the YMCA in Helena is located; however, as the plans grew to more than just an indoor swim facility the proposed location shifted to the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds.
"There is such a lack of indoor facilities for all the various sports in town and that demand is just growing," Posewitz says.
The project grew to over one hundred million dollars and had recently been in contact with a public benefit company that would use revenue from the complex rather than a bond to finance the building.
Around 200 thousand dollars have been spent on the project so far.
The project is in the early stages of finding a new location to support a facility that could include indoor swimming, hard courts, indoor turf, and arena space.
Posewitz says, "It is really important that we move this project forward for the greater good of the community because if we can bring visitor spending to Helena we will bring more businesses, more residents, which will in turn decrease our property taxes."
The organization is open to downsizing or approaching the build in phases to bring the complex to life in the Queen City.
