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Johnston sports complex still on track for development

The 189,000-square-foot building would house an indoor soccer field, eight multipurpose courts and the largest indoor track in the state.

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Project plans for a massive new multi-sports complex in Johnston are still on.

While officials say the COVID-19 pandemic has made planning more difficult, the project is still on track.

The building would span 189,000 square feet, which is enough to include an indoor soccer field, eight multipurpose courts, outdoor baseball and softball fields and the largest indoor track in the state.

"We anticipate there would be hundreds of thousands of folks that would pass through here on an annual basis," Johnston Economic Development Manager Adam Plagge said.  "Many of those would be coming from outside the metro for leagues and tournaments that will be hosted at this facility."

The City of Johnston is partnering with Ignit Sports and Fitness to make the project happen. Plagge expects both parties will close on portions of the land in the next 45-60 days, and that final site plans should be finished by then.

Ignit is hoping to open the facility by the end of 2022.  Part of that has been slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Plagge doesn't expect that will cripple any of the project's plans.

"Doing traffic counts when a lot of people are staying at home and not going to work has been a challenge; just figuring out what the infrastructure needs to be down there has been one battle," Plagge said.  "But Ignit's seeing activity on their site now, and they're envisioning we'll eventually get past this and be back to business as usual."

Johnston city officials say they're still on track to have their final project plans in place by the end of the year.

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