Cost of materials, interest rates halt plans for new Racine community center

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Developers looking to update the Lakeview Community Center in Racine announced on Wednesday they would put their plans on the shelf for an indeterminate time as rising costs of materials and interest rates were grinding the planning process. 

The city of Racine, architecture firm RINKA and developer F Street Development Group said they would put the community center planning process on hold for the foreseeable future. The three groups wanted to present new building design plans for the Lakeview Community Center, which city officials said was burned out. 

“While costs may be prohibitive right now, it remains a goal of the city to explore what possibilities exist to rebuild the community center for future generations to enjoy,” Racine Mayor Cory Mason said in a statement. Mason added he wanted to keep Lakeview functioning as a park. 

Developers and architects said they wanted to continue working with the city to redevelop the community center, which was damaged by a fire during civil unrest in 2019. 

“Unfortunately, the current market conditions with interest rates and costs of materials increasing creates real difficulty in producing a project of this type,” F Street founder Scott Lurie said in a statement. “Racine is a great community and it is our hope that when conditions become more stable we can re-engage with the city on this or other projects.” 

“Should the market settle we remain interested in working with the city to present options for the community center that we hope residents would be excited about,” Matt Rinka of RINKA said in a statement. “There are many development opportunities in Racine and we continue to be interested in partnering with the city to explore those options.”