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Fort Madison to Get State Funding

The 3rd time was the charm in Fort Madison’s attempt to land some state funding for a proposed sports complex.

The Fort Madison Sports Complex Committee applied for nearly $900,000 through the Vision Iowa Board’s Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) Committee.

The group walked away with nothing but advice and recommendations after its first two presentations to the CAT Committee.

The third trip, though, led Vision Iowa to agree to enter into negotiations with the sports complex committee to determine how much state funding would be provided.

Committee Member Tim Gobble believes the biggest difference was a letter from Lee County guaranteeing a contribution of $25,000.  He says the Vision Iowa Boatd took about three minutes to congratulate the committee on its tenacity.

Gobble says receiving the full request would be great, but he says securing even half of that amount would greatly benefit the sports complex.

He believes this should lead to a spike in fundraising as some individuals and businesses were waiting until the Vision Iowa Board made up its mind before making their contributions.

Lee County’s contribution is being funded by donations from private citizens and several members of the Board of Supervisors.

Gobble says a ground-breaking should take place this summer.  Nearly $2.5-million has been raised to this point.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.