yes

We are extremely pleased and excited to announce that the basketball court will be named the Breck Liestman Basketball Court. Appropriate signage in his memory will be installed when the courts are built.

Here’s a listing of other committed funding sources:
Quiet Leadership campaign…………………………………………………… $72,258
City of Grand Rapids – In kind services………………………………….. $33,680
Grand Rapids Public Utilities Commission – In kind services……… $8,450
IRRRB Grant…………………………………………………………………………$20,000
Enbridge Energy Grant……………………………………………………………..$5,000
Lake Country Power – Operation Round Up………………………………..$1,000
Community Campaign………………………………………………………………$17,596
Sub total ………………….$157,984
BRECK LIESTMAN COURT……………………………………………………..$50,000
Grand Total…………….. $207,984

The total project cost estimate is $350,000 which includes construction costs, engineering fees and donor recognition. Consequently, we are well past the halfway mark of our fundraising, with over 59% of the necessary funds raised.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Good question. We have applied for numerous grants. We have one outstanding application submitted for the MN DNR Outdoor Recreation Grant; we anticipate hearing the outcome in June. We remain hopeful that we might receive some or all of the requested funding.

Consequently, this puts added emphasis on the need for our Community Campaign to be extremely successful. A goal of raising $75,000 has been established for this campaign and is continuing up to June 15, 2017. Both the Grand Rapids Area Basketball Association and the Itasca County Pickleball Association have launched campaigns designed to contact all potentially interested families with information about the project and opportunities to financially support it.

We are asking all of those who have been contacted to PLEASE strongly consider supporting the project.

If you haven’t yet been contacted, please call someone from the list below to receive printed project informational material and learn how you can make a significant contribution.

Grand Rapids Area Basketball Association Itasca County Pickleball Association

Monica Beighley………218-398-001                                Sue Koprowski……..612-710-3984
Joni Namyst……………218-327-1161                                Kay Dugas………….. 218-244-3044
Patty Clusiau………… 218-259-1406

TIMELINE
Questions are often raised as to “when will the courts be built”? Bottom line, it all depends on when we reach our financial goal of $350K. If we can achieve this goal by early summer, it is conceivable construction could commence by late summer with completion by early fall. Otherwise, the spring of 2018 would be the next window of opportunity, again provided we are successful with our fundraising efforts.

Should you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact Bob Holycross at 218-244-8289 or holy@hcmsi.com  or Steve Feyma at 218-259-5684 or feyma@mchsi.com. We thank you for your terrific support and enthusiasm.