Cottage Grove is kicking off a campaign to build a $39 million community center – the cornerstone of a 74-acre mixed-use project.
The project, called Shoppes at Cottage View, would be built northeast of U.S. Highway 61 and Keats Avenue.
The city is placing the community center on the ballot in November – the culmination of about 16 years of study and research, according to Mayor Myron Bailey.
“It will kick off growth in Cottage Grove and in that commercial area,” Bailey said. “And it’s all at the request of the people of Cottage Grove.”
The city began to consider a civic gathering place in 2005.
“We really don’t have a downtown,” Bailey said.
For years, the city sponsored surveys, meetings and forums for voters. Bailey said one common request was for a community swimming pool.
Officials originally scheduled the vote for last November but postponed it because of the coronavirus pandemic and economic recession.
The referendum would pay for an outdoor aquatic complex featuring a 50-meter pool, a separate zero-entry pool and a “lazy river” feature that flows along a meandering channel.
Those aquatic features, said Bailey, account for nearly half the $39 million price tag.
According to a series of postings on the city’s website, the center also would include an inflatable dome for sports, indoor playground, climbing wall, performance stage and meeting rooms.
If voters approve, the 14-acre center will be the heart of a much larger project likely to include housing and retail.
Bailey said developers are waiting for the referendum to pass before making plans. But in the past, conceptual plans for the site have included a hotel, apartment buildings, restaurants, retailers and a fitness center. The project would fit next to an existing Walmart along Point Douglas Road.
The area would be connected to nearby Ravine Park with a pathway tunneled under Keats Avenue.
Officials estimate that if the referendum passes, the project will cost the average Cottage Grove homeowner about $120 a year in taxes.
