Construction work is scheduled to begin this week on a new community center in west Davenport, according to officials designing and building the facility.
Site preparation work will begin later this week for the new $2.8 million Fairmount Community Center. Located at 2980 N. Fairmount St., next to the Davenport Public Library – Fairmount Branch, the project is expected to take nine to 12 months to complete, officials with OPN Architects announced.
“This project could have been just another gym, but the city had a goal of more,” said Landon Burg, senior project architect with the Des Moines-based OPN Architects, which designed the new community center.
Mr. Burg was one of the speakers on Tuesday afternoon, July 11, during a brief groundbreaking ceremony for the new Fairmount Community Center. That event attracted about 50 people from the community, including city leaders.
The OPN architect said the center will include 4,500 square feet of usable space with the ability to accommodate 359 occupants. The facility will contain a half-court style gym for introductory sports, drop-in activity, and a wide range of other functions. The exterior of the building will include material that allows for movies to be projected onto it.
Once complete, the new center will have a “campus-like atmosphere,” he added.
“The Davenport Parks and Recreation Department is thankful for the investment by our city council to bring to fruition a new community center space for our residents,” said Chad Dyson, director of Davenport Parks and Recreation. “This center will give residents space to enjoy community activities and recreational programming.”
The parks department will manage and program the community center. The space will be available for the community to utilize and rent on weekends for various events.
“Anytime you can put something in the community that the community can use, that’s a great thing,” said Davenport Mayor Mike Matson during Tuesday’s ceremony.
Planning for the new community center has been in the works for more than a year. A public input meeting was held in May 2022 during an open house event at the Davenport Public Library – Fairmount Branch, next to the future center.
In advance of the building’s construction, Fairmount Street will be closed for approximately two to three weeks for utility work to serve the new facility. Public information on traffic control and detours will be available at betterroadsdavenport.com within the next few days.
