"SPORT COURT" NOT AFFORDABLE
NEEDS OVER $200,000 IN IMPROVEMENTS
Tom Gray, Victoria Building Official, reported May 9th on the condition of the "sport court," one of the buildings that was part of the city's 40-acre farm site purchase in 1999.  The acreage has since been named Diethelm Park.
The report showed it would cost Victoria at least $215,000 in improvements to make the building safe and handicap accessible.  "And my numbers are probably conservative," said Tom.
He contacted Airtech Environmental Inc., a company that reported the building is a very wet environment with mold and mildew brewing inside the walls.  The microbiologist said the foundation is saturated.  He recommended removing wall covering, furring strips, and insulation, which would then need to be replaced.
"There are no bathrooms in the building," said Tom, "and the building is not code compliant.  Someone in a wheelchair has a very difficult time accessing the building.  It needs an accessible entrance."
"As a public building, it is required to have a fire suppression sprinkling sys-tem," he continued.  "Public water was not available out there when the building was first purchased.  Now municipal water is available."
Tom said that the state also requires ventilation, air movement, or conditioned air that is heated and cooled.  As a final note, he said there is some value in the structure of the building, such as the tresses.
Said Councilmember Jerry Bohn, "It makes no sense to me at all to rehab this building.  There are all kinds of reasons to not rehab the building, and it's not suit-able the way it is."
Councilmember Richard Tieden agreed the building must come down.  "I don't think we have a choice," he said.  "Pursuant to the study, the cost is prohibi-tive.  I think we should move on and have it demolished."
Said Councilmember Dave Lindgren, "To spend that much money is not good economics.  It's not good use of $200,000."  Dave spoke to interested parties in the audience when he said, "The council will do its best to replace the sport court."
Resident Jay Soule, a member of the Victoria Athletic Association, stated, "We want to help be part of the solution.  There's almost a thousand kids involved now.  It's not just a seasonal building any-more."
Mr. Soule referred to the gymnasium that is being bid as a potential piece of the Victoria Field House and how hardwood floors would not suit the purposes of the VAA.
Replied Mayor Mary Meuwissen, "We're not looking at the gymnasium as a sport court.  Nobody has said it'll be a gymnasium with hardwood floors, but a shell.  At this point the only thing we've discussed is doing a shell of a gymnasium where there is elevator access, proper ven-tilation, accessibility, bathroom facilities.  We haven't talked about anything other than that.  We've asked the architect to give us a cost of a gymnasium shell."
At the end of the discussion, Council-member Gordon Simanton said he didn't want the record to not indicate the over-riding factor for getting rid of the sport court.  "It affects current plans for the field house," he said.  "The overarching factor is where we position the field house."
Architects for the field house have been concerned about working around the sport court on the property and still being able to accommodate future expansion without getting into the wetlands.
The vote was taken at this point to get rid of the sport court.  It was unanimous.  On May 23rd, City Administrator Steve Sarvi reported demolition of the sport court should occur "next week."  Low quote of $10,650 was from Olson Construction from Cologne.
Steve also reported that a "vast majority" of the flooring will be reusable, as well as some of the lighting and heating equipment.  Throughout the construction summer of 2002, only city office use of the park property will be allowed.

BUILDING A JOB DESCRIPTION
TO MANAGE AND OPERATE THE FIELD HOUSE
An interview team was formed on May 9th for the purpose of identifying qualifications for manager of the Victoria Field House.  The team includes City Administrator Steve Sarvi, volunteer developer and hockey person Mike Ayres, City Planner Mark Kaltsas, and Council-members Richard Tieden and Jerry Bohn.
On May 23rd Administrator Sarvi reported to councilmembers that the Pagel Center at Minnetonka has an employee, an arena manager, who might be able to co-manage Pagel and the Victoria Field House.  Said Steve, "He would cover the operational aspects of the facility, and then maybe we'd need a full time assistant."
He said he was also contacted by an individual who has done programming for such a facility, "but scheduling the ice is not the issue anymore.  The dry time is the issue.  We need someone who can sell that dry time."  Steve was referring to the summer months when the arena would be used for activities other than hockey.
Stated Mayor Mary Meuwissen, "I spoke with someone at Deer Run who said we needed a personality for the job like Tom Abts at the golf course.  He works with men's leagues, women's leagues, children's leagues.  He gets along with people."
Said Councilmember Jerry Bohn, 'We need someone driven by customers and revenue.  In the future we need a Park and Rec Director, but now we need a Field House Manager.  They've got to see it as a revenue generator.  Like Mike Ayres said, we want a guy that wears a sweat suit, not a suit and tie."

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