Waterloo Times

The Waterloo City Council discussed several major parks-and-recreation improvements and projects in the community and approved a project that involves creating a basketball court for students at St. Edward Elementary School.

The project is called Project Swish, which the council passed easily. Council member John Chiles asked if there would be a ribbon-cutting ceremony and how people would donate to the cause. Students from St. Edward have been fundraising and working with city staff in order to come up with the agreement the council was voting on.

The students wanted to have a basketball hoop and court, but the school did not have the property to do so. The court would be at Miller Park, which is next to the property line of the school campus. The students made a short presentation to the council and thanked the council for helping them play their favorite sport. The students discussed why they like the sport of basketball, including being a part of a team, playing PIG and getting outside.

“Thank you,” Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said. “And thank you for all your efforts and fundraising to make this project a reality. And I would probably say Councilman Nichols over here is a pretty good basketball player. So I would call him out, call him out and have him come over and play some PIG and see if you can beat him.”

The court will be built up slowly, starting with a half-court and going from there. The council is not planning a GoFundMe for the project.

The resolutions that were approved included a purchase agreement with Midwest Playscapes of Minnesota for $222,735 for the Gates Parks renovations; a community attraction and tourism grant acceptance for $1 million to transform Gates Park and Byrnes Park; and also a final donation agreement with Cedar Valley Catholic Schools.