Grand Forks works to finalize agreements to continue progress on new Altru Sports Complex

Dec. 16—GRAND FORKS — Progress on the new Altru Sports Complex continues with the city of Grand Forks in the process of finalizing letters of intent from the Grand Forks Park District and Altru Health System and making necessary amendments to city code.

In November, Grand Forks residents voted to allow the city's home rule charter to be amended

to allow an extension and modification of the 0.75% sales tax that pays for capital expenditures at the Alerus Center. Two-thirds of voters gave their support. The amendment allows the tax to continue beyond the previous end date of 2029 and allows funds generated by the tax to be used toward the construction of the Altru Sports Complex.

The facility, to be located south of the Alerus Center between Interstate 29 and South 42nd Street along what would be 17th Avenue South, is expected to feature indoor turf and an aquatic facility that will fill the

gap left when the Hyslop Sports Center is decommissioned

. With the results of the vote now finalized, the city can now move forward with the construction of the facility, estimated to be done by 2027.

"This should really be a fun project because generally we have to do meat-and-potato kind of stuff," Grand Forks City Administrator Todd

Feland said at the Grand Forks Committee of the Whole meeting on Dec. 11

. "The last fun project was probably the Alerus Center and this one is equivalent (to that)."

The Alerus Center construction finished in February of 2001, nearly 23 years ago. The sales tax that pays for the upkeep and had paid for the construction of the facility was instituted in 1996.

Since then, it has generated nearly $181 million in revenue and its tax collection has grown an average of 3.71% a year.

It currently brings in $10.5 million to $11 million a year, and by the end of the decade is set to bring in $12.6 million a year.

With Grand Forks residents approving the amendment, the city is now able to create the ordinances that would extend and modify the collection of the sales tax. When those ordinances go into effect, the funds will likely be split three ways: $7 million to $9 million toward debt servicing, $3.75 million toward the Alerus Center's capital funding, and $1.5 million to the Altru Sports Complex's capital funding.

Altru and the city are working to finalize the letter of intent. As part of that agreement, Altru will give the city a gift of $10 million and receive the naming rights for the facility.

When the announcement was made in November, Altru CEO Todd Forkel said

the new facility "... promotes wellness, specifically for our youth while also serving as a vehicle for overall community vibrancy and economic impact. Without this project, essential services such as swimming lessons are at risk, and kids in our community have less opportunity to stay active."

An additional letter of intent between the city and the Parks District is also in the works. Similar to how the Alerus Center is managed, where the city owns the facility but OVG360 manages the operations of the facility, the new Altru Sports Complex would be owned by the city but operated by the Grand Forks Park District.

A purchase agreement to obtain the final 6.28 acres of land required for the project is in the works. The city will buy land from Danks Asset Management LLC for $2.12 million; the sale was contingent on a successful outcome of the sales tax vote in November. The sale is expected to close on Feb. 25.

At the Dec. 11 Committee of the Whole meeting, new renderings of the Altru Sports Complex were shared with the Grand Forks City Council. They show the building being along Interstate 29 instead of the previous orientation along 42nd Street South. Between now and 2030, this area of Grand Forks will see many changes.

"The other thing when looking at timelines is

the 42nd Street underpass that's going to be done by 2029

," Feland said. "We anticipate this facility being done in 2027. This whole corridor is going to change significantly as we move forward."

Besides the finalization of letters of intent, purchase agreements and ordinance changes, the city will open bids in the first quarter of 2024 for architectural and engineering and construction management services. Design work on the facility would occur throughout 2024 with the goal of a construction bidding at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.

"My understanding and in talking to other city officials around the country when bold quality-of-life projects like this are moved forward, there are two key ingredients," said council member Bret Weber. "There needs to be strong leadership from someone like the mayor — congratulations to you on this — and there is often a major gift that helps put it over the finish line. Altru's gift, I think, was one of the major factors in the successful vote and I wanted to thank Altru for their support."