As long-time Ames residents, homeowners and taxpayers, we are in full support of the proposed Ames Recreation and Aquatic Center. We believe the Rec Plex will not only open new venues for serious exercise and enjoyment for Ames residents of all ages, but it will fill what we perceive to be a huge void in gym space currently available to Ames youth athletic programs.

Our daughter is a recent graduate of Ames High and since the age of 11 has been active in volleyball, both in school and for eight years in the Iowa Heart Volleyball Club. Every year, the club fought the same battle of finding and securing available gym space for practices. Because of the lack of available gym space in Ames, we saw girls as young as 13 cut from teams, as well as girls just as young traveling to and from neighboring communities, sometimes as late as 9 p.m. on school nights to practice in “borrowed” gym space.

In addition to solving the lack of space for youth sports practice, we feel Ames needs this Rec Plex because of the potential revenue it can drive to Ames. During our daughter’s eight-year Iowa Heart Volleyball Club career, each year from January to April we traveled almost every weekend to out-of-town and out-of-state tournaments. These weekend trips meant we invested in 2-3 nights of hotel expense, multiple restaurant meals, gas, shopping, etc. It was not unusual for us to spend $350 or more per weekend — and all our money was spent in communities other than Ames. Multiply this figure times 12 families per team and 16-20 teams per tournament, and you can easily see the tremendous revenue generated during just one weekend.

As the Dec. 9 vote for the Rec Plex nears, we have only one regret. We wish Ames would have had such a facility while our daughter needed it. She would not have spent late nights commuting to and from practice, and we all would have contributed revenue to Ames during at least a few tournaments each year.

Our example is merely one sport — when built, the Rec Plex will undoubtedly be busy every weekend with athletes, parents, coaches and fans of volleyball, basketball, indoor soccer and swimming. When the Rec Plex is busy, Ames hotels, restaurant, shopping districts and other businesses are busy. That’s good for all of us. Please support the Ames Recreation and Aquatic Center. Vote yes Dec. 9.

Deb Fry

Doug Wunder

Ames