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Final push for sports complex ready to start |
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
The Forest Lake Sports Complex passed another major hurdle Monday night. The Forest Lake City Council approved a lease agreement with the Forest Lake Area Athletic Association, which is leasing six acres of city land near the airport for the facility.
The council also waived half the building permit fees for the nonprofit project, and deferred other development charges in the form of a 20-year no-interest loan.
So now the only real remaining hurdle for FLAAA is to reach its fund-raising goal. While the majority of financing is coming from four local banks — Frandsen, Mainstreet, Patriot and Village — FLAAA also needs to raise $1.2 million.
“We’ve raised enough so far to build a shell with ice for skating,” said Larry Schminski, a tri-chair of the project’s steering committee, “but to outfit the building and have amenities like concessions and benches in locker rooms, we need to raise at least another $400,000.”
A good chunk of that money could come from naming rights and remaining advertising opportunities in the facility.
“We’ve sold about half our advertising to local businesses, including Birdsall Real Estate, Forest Lake Cycle and Skate, Fairview Lakes Medical Center, First State Bank of Wyoming, Forest Lake Floral, Friar Tuck’s, Galleberg Chiropractic, OSI Physical Therapy and Rychley Financial,” said Tal Gravelle, who is heading up the sales effort.
He said many more businesses have shown interest, but not yet signed contracts.
“We really need businesses to step up and make the commitment,” Gravelle said.
“We’re all volunteers with full-time jobs, so we don’t have a lot of time to follow up and make calls. We really need the community’s support to take the initiative and contact us.”
The Sports Complex will offer advertising exposure to approximately 35,000 people a year, according to Gravelle. About one-third of them will be out-of-town visitors looking to eat and shop in the area.
Other avenues
Remaining advertising opportunities include:
•Backlit sign in the main arena: $2000/year for five years
•4-foot by 6-foot banners in the field house: $500/year for five years
•Youth locker room signs: $500/year for five years.
For advertising details, local organizations can contact Tal Gravelle at 651-464-8097.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can get a donation form on the FLAAA Web site at HYPERLINK “http://www.flaaa.org” www.flaaa.org, or simply send a check made out to the Forest Lake Sports Complex to FLAAA, P.O. Box 21, Forest Lake, MN 55025.
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