Plans for a multi-million dollar community health center are in the works for Ames. Six different organizations hope to contribute money and other resources to see this one of a kind center come to fruition.

The city of Ames, DMACC, Iowa State, Heartland Senior Services (HSS), Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC) and Story City make up the six-dimensional partnership funding the potential center, which aims to focus on nutrition, fitness and community all at once. It is being referred to as the Healthy Life Center.

Keith Abraham, director of Ames Parks and Recreation, and HSS Executive Director Nancy Carroll presented before nearly 40 community members on May 9 at the Ames High School auditorium.

The current cost estimate for the center is $48.7 million. Abraham explained where exactly the money would come from, with $17 million being lent by the city of Ames, $7 million coming from MGMC, $3.5 million from HSS and another $3 million from Story City.

While DMACC and Iowa State won’t be donating any money to the cause, their presence would be felt in the planning of the facility as well as staffing it.

In total these contributions make up $30.5 million, and the additional $18.2 million would come from philanthropic donors in the Ames community.

“Remember, none of this is promised,” Abraham said. “The planners need to demonstrate people in the community are on board with the project.”

However, some people already are, such as former Ames Mayor Ann Campbell and Bev and Warren Madden. Together these community members are assembling a campaign cabinet to raise the philanthropic funds.

“These people are 100 percent on board,” Abraham said. “Last month we went to the Ames City Council and asked, ‘Are you interested in this facility? Would you be willing to contribute if we get the $18.2?’ and they said yes.”

While Abraham’s expertise focused mainly on the financial end, Carroll communicated the need for the center and what it would actually look like.

“The project is unprecedented,” Carroll said. “This partnership across six entities allows us to do something together that we could never achieve individually.”

Carroll believes that growing health issues in communities throughout the country make solutions like the Healthy Life Center a necessity and not a luxury.

“We have in Ames, and across the nation, some very troubling health data,” Carroll said. “More and more people and kids suffer with obesity and diabetes. Children now have health problems that were only previously seen in adults.”

Carroll explained the vision for the Healthy Life Center, which would be located in what is now 10 acres of Iowa State owned fields at Ontario Street and Scholl Road. Seven of those acres would comprise the actual building, while the remaining three acres would be for parking, an outdoor playground and a community garden.

Inside the facility would be a track, athletic courts, water slides, a healthy dining cafe, kitchen centers where people could learn about nutrition, an HSS senior center, an MGMC physical therapy center, public meeting rooms with 12-125 person occupancy and pools for training, recreation and aqua therapy.

The reason the Healthy Life Center would be so multi-faceted, Carroll stated, was to develop a strong sense of community within it.

“You can have the resources, but if you don’t create a social network, it won’t last,” Carroll said. “You need those connections to create real, behavioral change.”

Most of the audience seemed interested in the Healthy Life Center and thought the community definitely needed a response to health issues.

“I think a center like this is really important,” said Ames resident Mary Brooks. “If they can attract a lot of kids, then the families would really get involved. We don’t have anything like that here, and I think we need it.”

To some, the benefits of the Healthy Life Center are self evident, but the sheer size of the facility makes the project daunting.

“It’s definitely something we need,” said Story City resident Linda Murken. “With the right kind of strategy, I think it could be successful, but it has to be more than just ‘if we build it, they will come.’ It needs a good strategy.”

If built, the center would be accessible for a fee by everyone in Story County, and for a higher fee for people coming from outside the county.

“It’s not just an Ames facility, it’s a county wide facility,” Abraham said. It’s estimated that 53 percent of the people who visit the facility will be from Ames, 30 percent will be from elsewhere in Story County and the rest would be from out of the county.

The plans are still in their early stages, and Carroll and Abraham stressed how much they want community input on the Healthy Life Center. They will be hosting another forum at Ames Middle School on May 15 at 6 p.m.