By Marcus Aarsvold
JANESVILLE
The Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center is set to open one year from now in August of 2025 in Janesville.
Project managers say construction is on schedule for the indoor hockey, soccer and pickleball and the community is getting more excited, as larger scale events like The Olympics put a spotlight on sport as a tourist attraction and economic boost.
Friends of the Woodman’s Center Vice Chair Christine Rebout has worked on fundraising for the project for seven years and said the new facility is an opportunity for the city to rebrand itself. She also predicts an annual $30 million economic boost.
”Everyone says we’re the place that used to have GM, let’s talk about the place that has The Woodman’s Center,” she said. ”That typical family might spend $700 per weekend if they’ve got three or four kids and they’re here for three or four days. They’ll be eating here, staying here and spending that money. So that all translates into economic gain for the community.”
Char Kendall works at a store next to the old Sears building which was partially demolished and replaced for construction on the new facility.
”We saw the demolition go down and we were like, oh my gosh! Where did the building go? But this is very exciting and we’re enjoying a lot of store traffic. We’re hoping the moms drop off the kids to go ice skating and then they come over and they shop at the Ulta store,” she said. ”It’s going to bring people in from out of state, enhance the traffic in all the stores, the food, people need to eat also. So, we’re very very thankful.”
Community member Jesse Levi believes the center could help revitalize the city. “It does have a rep where it’s kind of like a dying city,” he said. “I don’t want to put that out there, but I think it’s also a great integration to our mall here and to bring more traffic here into Janesville.”
Young athletes like Matias Murillo said more places to play sports is a big deal. ”It will be really cool because I could play soccer when I’m here in Beloit, I could just come here to Janesville,” he said. “And I could play soccer in Madison.”
Rebout said the walls will go up in August and they plant to host hard hat tours in October.
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