A year after Greenwood unveiled plans for the former middle school site downtown, construction is set to begin, turning the school’s old gymnasium, now a shell of a building, into a community gym and anchor for future development.
The Greenwood Redevelopment Commission this week unanimously approved awarding the construction contract to Indianapolis-based Gilliatte Contractors. The approval gave contractors the green light to start construction on the recreation and fitness center, which the city has dubbed the fieldhouse.
The plan is to offer a wide variety of sports at the facility, including soccer, lacrosse, futsal, track, basketball, volleyball and pickleball. Greenwood’s Parks and Recreation Department will manage fieldhouse operations once it is complete.
The complete renovation is expected to cost about $8.5 million, said Kevin Steinmetz, the city’s capital projects manager. The redevelopment commission allocated $9 million to accommodate for possible changes during the construction process, Steinmetz said. That money will come from the east side tax-increment financing, or TIF, fund. Allocating extra money is common in large capital projects because unforeseen changes can occur, he said.
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The city purchased the former Greenwood Middle School property for $1 million in 2017, and it served as a temporary police headquarters until summer 2018. Last spring, most of the school was demolished, leaving behind only the gymnasium, which was gutted. Demolition cost the city another $1.9 million.
The city hopes to start construction as soon as possible, and plans to have the entire building completed sometime in 2021, Steinmetz said.
The fieldhouse is the first part of the city’s long-proposed redevelopment of the 16-acre property, and it is part of Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers’ larger $24.5 million plan to reshape downtown Greenwood. The city hopes to fill the rest of the property with apartments, townhouses, retail shops, restaurants and office spaces. These plans, apart from the fieldhouse design, remain conceptual, Steinmetz said.
City officials said they are still in discussions with developers regarding the rest of the property.
