Special Olympics Missouri project delayed in Jefferson City
A major Special Olympics Missouri project in Jefferson City is being pushed back for a lack of funds.
ABC 17 News reported construction of the “Training for Life Campus” was set to start this year.
However, the organization is still looking to raise about $2.6 million before it can begin.
“What that will allow us to do is to complete what we call some of the outdoor amenities that we want to have on the campus like lights on the field, it will also allow– they’ll have field turf,” Campaign Chair Gary Wilbers said.
The campus will be located on more than 15 acres of land just off Highway 54.
The $16.5 million project was originally projected to cost about $4 million less. But construction costs have increased, according Wilbers.
The organization hopes to have the remaining funds pledged by the end of the year.
Construction is expected to start sometime in 2017. SOMO hopes to have it finished by summer of 2018.
Special Olympics currently has no designated training facility for its 15,000 athletes across the state.
“We have one camp a year,” Wilbers said. “This is going to allow us to have 30 camps a year. So the numbers that we will be able to reach each year is going grow tremendously.”
The campus will be the only one of its kinds with athletic training, leadership training and a healthy athlete initiative.
“It’ll be the only one in the world when we open,” Wilbers said. “And it’ll be held right here in Jefferson City, so it really will become a model for other Special Olympics.”
You can find more information on how to donate to the SOMO Training for Life Campus here.
