WATERLOO — Basketball and soccer leagues are reserving summer space at the renovated Gates Park, a new pool is nearing completion at Byrnes Park and a new sports complex is looking to break ground.
Things are shaping up in Waterloo as the city continues its push to become a premier destination for community recreation and youth sports.
“One of the strategic goals of the city is to become a SportsTown USA, and this is part of it,” said Todd Derifield, interim director of Waterloo Leisure Services. “We’re excited to have people coming into the community to recreate, stay in the hotels, eat at local restaurants and spend money in the community.”
The new Byrnes Park Aquatic Center is set to open June 7. The center will feature a four-lane, 25-yard lap pool, a slide tower, a diving board, a zero-depth entry play pool with spray features, an updated bathhouse and a new concession stand.
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Construction is for a new pool is underway at Byrnes Park in Waterloo.
Construction crews are leaping winter weather hurdles to stay on schedule.
“The contractors are doing a great job moving forward,” Derifield said. “With the cold weather they’ve even set up heated tents to keep things on schedule.”
The project, headed by Peters Construction, has remained within budget and excitement is building as spring approaches, he added.
The new Spray Pad at Gates Park opened to the public Monday.
Gates Park nears completion
Across town to the north, the second phase of construction on the Gates Park expansion is entering its final stages. The park has already seen significant upgrades, including a splash pad and an inclusive playground that opened in July. Construction crews are now transforming the former pool area into a multi-use recreational hub. New amenities will include basketball courts, a roller-skating rink, an amphitheater and a renovated soccer field.
“The contractors are continuing to work up there, and we will definitely be opening this spring,” said Derifield. “I can’t say May for sure, but we’re definitely getting a lot of interest in reserving the basketball courts and amphitheater. We’ve already started penciling in basketball leagues and festivals for mid-June.”
Construction work continues at Gates Park..
Managing costs has been a balancing act, Derifield said. He credits the flexibility of contractors Woodruff Construction and Ritland + Kuiper Landscape Architects to stay on budget while keeping the project’s vision intact.
“This project has been an ongoing value engineering exercise,” Derifield said. “But we’ve stayed within budget, and the contractors have worked with us to make it happen.”
Gates Park’s south side is also nearing completion, with a new shelter, relocated play equipment, resurfaced tennis and pickleball courts and enhancements to the flood wall. After a two-season hiatus for field improvements, the Hispanic Soccer League is set to reclaim its home turf this summer, benefiting from a newly irrigated and better-draining playing surface.
“It’s going to be a lot better field for them,” Derifield noted.
Derifield is confident the boost at Byrnes and Gates parks will eventually carry over to other Waterloo parks.
“We’ve got a lot more parks that need some renovations and hopefully we can keep going,” he said.
An architect's rendering shows the exterior of a planned hardcourt tournament arena on the TechWorks campus in downtown Waterloo.
CourtWorks a
game-changer
Downtown, one of the city’s most ambitious projects got the green light from the city in February by way of a $4 million dollar grant. The City Council approved the grant to the Waterloo Development Corporation to help fund Waterloo CourtWorks, a hard court sports complex on the TechWorks campus. CourtWorks is poised to transform Waterloo into a hub for regional youth sports.
The $35 million, 110,000-square-foot complex will feature eight full-size basketball courts that can be converted into 16 volleyball courts, as well as space for gymnastics, wrestling, robotics competitions and trade shows.
As previously reported in the Courier, the project also includes other funding: $2.5 million from the Otto Schoitz Foundation, $2.5 million from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association, $1.5 million from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfield grant, $1 million from the Black Hawk County Supervisors, a grant from the McElroy Trust and other individual donations.
Construction is set to begin this year, with an anticipated opening in 2026. Jim Miller, who sits on the WDC board, said once the complex is fully operational, Waterloo CourtWorks is projected to inject between $10 million and $16 million into the local economy within five years.
