By Hub City Times staff

MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Area Community Foundation will serve as the clearing house for money raised for the city’s proposed new aquatic center.

With Aldermen Jason Zaleski and Peter Hendler absent, the Marshfield Common Council voted 8-0 May 28 in favor of creating a project-specific fund agreement with the foundation.

City Parks & Recreation Director Justin Casperson told the council that fundraising efforts will start shortly for the proposed aquatic center project, which the city has committed $3 million to, provided the rest is raised privately.

   Some aldermen had concerns with a provision in the fundraising agreement that spells out how the money will be used if full fundraising goals are not met. Foundation Director Amber Kiggens-Leifheit said donors must be told how their donations are going to be used, and since there are no refunds, she said the foundation must be up front about where the money would go.

The agreement identifies June of 2021 as the projected completion time of fundraising, and August of 2022 as the completion of the aquatic center. The agreement also identifies September of 2026 as the sunset date for all future pledges.

A recent study showed an appetite for building a new aquatic facility in Marshfield. The findings of a campaign feasibility study were presented to the Marshfield Common Council in March. Jodi Sweeney from the Sweeney Consulting Group said her study analyzed the need for the new aquatic center, the plans for the new facility, and the amount of money that could be raised privately. Her study suggested the necessary $3 million in private funds needed for the project can be raised.

The cost of the new facility is approximately $6 million. Last October, the council signed off on a challenge grant, and agreed to cover half the cost of a proposed new swimming pool for the city, if community fundraising efforts could raise the other half. Potential donors have already been identified.