Wall Lake city officials are excited to announce the new fitness room at the former Wall Lake Elementary School will be ready to open for public use in a little over a month. For nearly two years, the building has gone mostly unused as the community worked to find a new purpose for the structure, parts of which were first built almost 100 years ago. According to City Clerk Chris Rodman, many ideas were suggested, but the most requested was a new fitness center. He says the approximately $85,000 endeavor got underway last fall and was funded almost entirely through private donations and grants.
Rodman adds that several smaller contributions from the Sac County Board of Supervisors, Mortenson Construction, and Western Iowa Energy helped get the fitness room over the finish line. The Wall Lake City Council had pledged up to $10,000 for the project, but they likely will not need those funds thanks to the generosity of so many people. Rodman says they are tentatively planning for a public reveal next month.
While work in the fitness center is nearly done, Rodman says they are still trying to figure out what they will do with other areas of the building, particularly the second story. The council had initially hoped to convert them into residential apartment units, but that plan was shelved when Wall Lake was not selected to receive 2022 state grant funding for upper-level housing conversions. Residents are invited to a meeting on Sunday at the Wall Lake Fire Department to share their thoughts on other possibilities.
The Sunday, June 26 meeting is set to begin at 5 p.m. Residents unable to attend can submit their ideas by contacting city hall at 712-664-2116.
