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A plan to build a community center that also can be used as a public shelter in emergencies took a step forward Wednesday.
Cape Coral City Council voted to fund a Community Recreation Center and Disaster Shelter Study with the amount not to exceed 2,532,398.39.
Councilmembers Rachel Kaduk and Keith Long dissented.
Emergency Management and Resilience Director Ryan Lamb said design services for the facility will be paid for with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds.
The facility planned for Festival Park, a 200-plus acre site along Wilmington Parkway near Seahawk Park. Other amenities will include an outdoor amphitheater, multi-use sports fields and concessions.
Lamb said center's use would be two-fold - for "blue sky" purposes of the facility it will serve as a recreation center, while also offering services for low- to moderate-income families, childcare, youth leagues, and space for nonprofit organizations.
Others uses will include recreational amenities and programming for residents.
Lamb said during an incident - "gray skies/emergencies" - the center will act as a public shelter. In addition, it would be a disaster recovery center to support post-disaster services, a point of distribution site for essential supplies, as well as disaster communication and information hub for residents.
The total cost of the project is $35 million, with the grant covering just under $30 million. Lamb said $5 million will be funded through the city budget's General Fund.
That money has been approved, Council budgeted $5,537,690 in last year's budget, a match to receive a $29 million grant for the project, City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said, adding the actual expenditure still is "another couple of years" away.
The design phase is projected to take a year and so the center would be budgeted in the 2027 budget.