Bowie Council Agrees on Rec Center with Ice Rinks, Plus Hoops and Volleyball Courts

The Bowie City Council has approved plans for a $23.5 million indoor recreation facility that includes two ice rinks and courts for basketball and volleyball.

Council members made the decision at Tuesday night's budget workshop, reports the Bowie Blade-News.

Councilman Dennis Brady had reservations, saying he would prefer a less costly gymnasium in both north and south Bowie, and an ice rink in central Bowie.

The 60,000-square-foot facility OKed by the council will have room for five basketball courts, with six volleyball courts overlaying the space for basketball, the newspaper says. It would also include one National Hockey League regulation ice rink and another Olympic regulation sized ice rink.

Construction would be completed by December 2018.

In the next fiscal year, the city will need $1.1 million to do a location analysis and hire a project manager. Now the City Council will look at amending its proposed budget to include plans for the facility.

Councilman James Marcos said he hopes a site for the rec center can be found in north Bowie.

“I think it would definitely give north Bowie a shot in the arm, which it definitely needs,” Marcos said in the Blade story.

A 2013 feasibility study looked at the potential for an outdoor turf, an indoor court, an ice rink, and an aquatics center. At this point, the aquatics center and outdoor turf have been dropped from the plans.