Forward Janesville - TheReport - First Quarter 2024

Janesville Ice Arena, built 50 years ago, was rapidly nearing the end of its useful life and was no longer supporting the needs of its stakeholders. Many behind the project saw this as an opportunity to address several problems at once, beyond the needs of the ailing ice arena. What if a new facility could further expand the scope of youth sports and recreation while also providing much-needed meeting and convention space the city has never had access to? The first public conversations around what would become the Woodman’s Center came in 2017 when the city announced it would conduct a feasibility study for a new indoor sports facility. The study was paired with the formation of an indoor sports complex steering committee tasked to make recommendations to the city council once the study was complete and support community engagement meetings. The study conducted by Conventions, Sports and Leisure International came back in early 2019 showing a demand for an indoor sports complex in Janesville, specifically to service ice sports, multi-purpose court and turf sports, and recreational activities. Proximity to I-90 and the commercial Milton Avenue corridor was one of the two primary location recommendations identified in the study. The study included community feedback, competitor analysis, stakeholder interviews and other data analysis by the outside consultants. In Spring 2019, the committee identified Uptown Janesville as the preferred location for a future sports complex following an evaluation of eight privately-owned sites and six city-owned properties. Later in 2019, the steering committee received an additional third-party recommendation from James Lima, an urban planner and placemaking expert, who was hired with funding from the Janesville Foundation to provide opinion on the impact the facility’s location would have on the community. Lima’s study supported the steering committee’s recommendation to build the complex at Uptown Janesville, but specifically pushed for the complex to be built at the former Sears site rather than a previously identified plot on the backside of the building. This location would give the project “the dignity and civic presence of the best communal and civic places in Janesville,” noted Lima. By late 2019, a local advocacy group, Friends of the Indoor Sports Complex, now more commonly known as Friends of the Woodman’s Center, came to life focusing on fundraising and building community support. Early design plans had also started to take form. By 2021, fundraising for the project was in full force in tandem with more detailed design efforts. This year brought the announcement of three major donors: Woodman’s, which donated $3 million and gained naming rights for the complex; Mercyhealth, which donated $1.5 million for naming rights on the ice arena; and The Kennedy Family Foundation, which donated $500,000 to sponsor the flex space. As of February 2024, the Friends group collected more than $9.5 million in pledges, making it the largest fundraising effort in the city’s history. Many of those pledges came from the "Together We Can" donor and public outreach campaign. The last two years of planning and development were glittered with highs and lows, but wins like the $1 million anonymous donation ultimately made the project a reality. It all led to the project’s greatest highlight so far: the February groundbreaking of the Woodman’s Center at Uptown Janesville. “Looking back at all the efforts that went into this project, had the council decided we won't move this forward, or if the state had not stepped up, or $5 million in federal funds had not come through, it would have been a lot of work and focus and time for nothing,” said Mike Payne, director of public works for the city. “There's nothing better in what I do working for a community to put in the effort, have it come in under budget and have the council support the project. It has been absolutely wonderful and made it all worthwhile.” A Lesson in Resilience It would have been nearly impossible for the largest fundraising effort in Janesville history to come to life without being met by challenges. The first came in 2020 when worldwide shutdowns and economic uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic put the project in a holding pattern, specifically with fundraising. Leaders at the time knew it would be inappropriate to launch a capital campaign or make significant requests for sponsorship given the hardships being felt by nearly every person in the world, including those in Janesville. Specifically, the hospitality industry that the project would largely support was being hit the hardest. That did not halt the project completely. Officials behind the scenes continued to lay the groundwork and build strategy for the project to resume once the time came. And it did. By fall 2021, the Woodlane Dr R efse t D r P r i m r os e L n Sherwood Dr Kennedy Rd W Foster Ave 0 700 350 Feet 1/22/2024; Z.Pennycook Y:\Projects\Economic_Development\TID Maps\TID 38\Amendment1\Amendment1.aprx TID 38 Expansion TID 38 TID 38 Expansion ¯ TID 38 - 1st Amendment DISCLAIMER: This data is provided by the City of Janesville for informational purposes only. The City does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or reliability of this data. The recipient of this data assumes any risk of its use for any purpose. 1:8,400 1 inch = 700 feet 0124300030 0219100006 0219100008 0219100043 0219100044 0219100110 0219100113 0219200014 0219200030 0219400003 0219400006 0219400011 0219400019 0219400020 0219400021 0219400022 0219400023 0219400025 0219400041 0219400042 0219400070 0219400187 0219400202 0219400299 0219400302 0219400303 0219400304 0219400400 0219400402 0219400403 0219400404 0219400405 0219400406 0219400408 0219400409 0219400411 0219400412 0219400465 0219400467 0219400468 0219400469 0219400470 0219400471 PARCEL NUMBER TIF 38 along Milton Ave. expanded to include Uptown Janesville As of February 2024, the Friends group collectedmore than $9.5 million in pledges, making it the largest fundraising effort in the city’s history. Many of those pledges came from the "Together We Can" donor and public outreach campaign. www.forwardjanesville.com | 7