Sartell Breaks Ground on Community Center

SARTELL -- Construction on the Sartell Community Center is finally underway.

City officials held a ceremonial ground breaking Tuesday on the new 53,000 square-foot facility.

Sartell Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll says it's an exciting day for the community.

"It's taken a long time to get here, it's been years of discussion and now we are breaking ground. It's going to be a great community center that will serve many generations of our community," says Nicoll.

Work on the site has been going since August and if all goes as planned, the walls of the facility could go up by January.

The community center will include a senior center, learning and innovation center, multi-purpose rooms, three full size gymnasiums, a second floor walking track, and locker rooms.

Nicoll says the facility is also designed for future growth should the city look at adding other amenities.

"There is a lot of amenities we still hope to add in the future and we've taken a lot of care of designing a building that allows for expansion when we have the funds to do so," says Nicoll.

The community center will cost around $10.9-million to build, which is under the cities $11-million budget. It's located at 850 19^th Street South in Sartell, next to Chateau Waters.

The community center is expected to be completed by next summer.