Group floats sports dome

The Thomson Township community is once again coming together to support local sports, this time in hopes of raising enough money to build a multisport dome.

Over 10 years ago, the Thomson community came together and raised over $400,000 to put turf down on the local football field. The same group of individuals that spearheaded the turf project is now looking for the community’s support to build a multisport dome in the township.

Members of the “dome club” gave a presentation about the possible project to the Thomson Township board of supervisors at its meeting Thursday, May 4.

“The dream (of the turf field) came true. We’re really, really thankful for the generosity, so we come forward tonight with another dream,” dome club member Russ Davidson told the board.

Currently, the group is looking into the logistics of where it would make sense for this dome to be built. The group told the board they are hoping to keep the dome within a mile of the current sports complex for safety and convenience. They pointed to similar projects in Blaine, Minnesota and Hermantown.

As of right now, the group is hoping that none of the funding for this project would come from taxpayers, but instead from sponsorships, camps, outside groups looking to use the facility, and fundraising.

“In terms of cost for a structure like this, the field, turf, and different stuff that we want in there, we’re probably looking at $3 million to make this happen,” members told the board.

According to the group, they already have a lot of interest in the project and have been trying to find solutions to make every group that will utilize the dome satisfied.

The dome would have the capability of hosting various sporting events locally, without the need to travel to bigger cities, especially in the winter, when the fields are impacted by winter weather. It would also provide extra practice space, more field space for any tournaments or camps, and more space for any local events.

The group assured the board that Esko athletes would be the prime beneficiaries of the dome and local teams would have priority for use. But, the dome would have the capability to host outside groups, which would be a revenue source for the funding.

There are still a lot of questions as to where the dome could potentially be built and what the construction project would look like. The dome club told the board they were looking for suggestions and support, and they are asking for the same from township community members as they look to make their new “dream” a reality.