New Community Center Headed to South County

A $12 million community center and aquatic park received approval from St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley on Monday.

Construction will begin in early 2013 at the intersection of Broadway and Kingston Drive, near .

“I’m excited to get this moving, because it is going to provide so much enjoyment to residents of all ages in South County,” Dooley said in a county release. “We spent a lot of time in this process listening to citizens and what we heard over and over again is that a community and aquatic center is tops on their list.”

Plans include workout facilities, an indoor track and a community meeting space. The aquatic center will feature a leisure pool, lazy river and lap pool.

Funding for the community center comes from the St. Louis County Port Authority, a division of the St. Louis County Economic Council.

The lease agreement between Pinnacle Entertainment’s River City Casino and the Port Authority must be used to improve the Lemay area.

River City’s lease payments account for $8 to $10 million of the funds with an additional $5 million coming from the casino, the release said. Another $475,000 comes from federal funding for design.

The Lemay Community Center Advisory Committee held public meetings that collected input from residents. After a two-year planning process, designs are underway.

A scale model of the center will be at the next community meeting on May 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Hancock Place Elementary School, 9101 South Broadway.