If you’ve driven past the former Leevers Foods South (also known as Wally’s or Christie’s Warehouse) this week you may have noticed that activity has begun in the building as the company that got the bid to remove all asbestos begins its work. There’ll be no stopping by to check out what they’re doing or to watch at all, asbestos mitigation is a specialized business and you might see workers wearing haz mat suits and/or breathing apparatus to protect themselves from asbestos in the air. Everything should be pretty much sealed up until the asbestos is removed.
Terry Wallace, former Devils Lake Park Superintendent who is staying on a while to help with the big projects underway for the DL Park Board, says the mitigation of asbestos is mainly in the floor tiles and it should take a week to 10 days to complete this first step towards renovating the former grocery store building into the Devils Lake Family Entertainment Center.
This is merely the first of several phases of the entire project. Once the asbestos is removed and the floor is repaired and sealed the project moves on to the next phase.
The plan
The seven programs voted the most important by the community that are planned for the facility include:
1. Movie Theater
2. Walking Track
3. Bowling Lanes (6-lane)
4. Indoor Playground
5. HD Multi-sport simulators (Arcade)
6. Pickleball (2 courts)
7. Community Rooms for birthdays and meetings, etc.
The plans, now, may include removing the movie theater from the plans because it’s looking like the city’s Lake 3 Movie Theater, formerly owned and operated by AMC, across the street from McDonalds, may be reopening under a new name, new ownership and new management sometime in the near future, following their own renovations.
That leaves one space in the center’s plans to become something else, maybe a multi-use community area, Wallace stated. No doubt the Devils Lake Park Board will discuss it at their meeting set for today at 12 Noon in the Burdick Arena since The Family Entertainment Center Update is on the agenda.
The architect for the project is JLG and Construction Engineers will be the project construction manager. The project will be completed in phases with some of the costs paid through a one quarter-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in June of 2022. It is hoped that the increase in sales tax will bring in approximately $400,000 a year for the Park District to use for its many needs, including the renovations and lease of the family entertainment center.
A generous grant through the Otto Bremer Trust has recently been received for help with DL Park Board projects like the new fishing pond and pier planned for Ruger Park as well as the family entertainment center. (see the story below)
Plus those who use the center will pay a fee for their use, either through memberships or per-use fees to be established.
Both the city of Devils Lake and Ramsey County have pledged to help pay for the project, as well.
As this project progresses, we at the Devils Lake Journal will keep you informed along the way.
