Fort Dodge voters decided Tuesday that they want an aquatic center.
With a 60 percent majority needed to approve the bond issue and launch the project, 61.15 percent of those voting came out in favor of the project.
''This is huge,'' said Neven Mulholland, a spokesman for the committee pushing for the project. ''No body has any idea how important this is.''
But it didn't always look like a success for the aquatic center supporters. After the polls closed, the first set of vote totals released by the Webster County auditor's office showed the proposal being defeated by a slim margin.
Within an hour of releasing those results, the auditor's office produced the new version. Auditor Carol Messerly said the first batch of numbers didn't include the absentee ballots. Adding the absentee ballots pushed the total number of "yes" votes over the needed 60 percent margin.
The corrected set of unofficial returns showed the aquatic center bond issue passed by a margin of 61.15 percent to 38.85 percent.
Mulholland, who happily returned to the Webster County Courthouse late Tuesday night to get the corrected vote returns, called his group's reversal of fortune ''unbelievable.''
''You talk about Lazarus coming back from the dead,'' he said. ''I've never seen anything like it.''
Two vocal opponents of the plan, Jim Koll and Richard Higgins, celebrated the initial election results, but were more somber when they picked up the corrected numbers.
''I congratulate them,'' Koll said. ''It was a good fight on both sides. They did a good job.''
''I don't question their motives at all,'' Koll added.
According to figures released by the auditor's office, 6,479 of the city's 16,173 voters participated. Messerly called that ''one of the better turnouts'' for a city special election.
She noted that about 5,500 city voters turned out for the March 23, 2004, referendum that legalized casino gambling in Webster County.
Tuesday's vote allows the city government to borrow up to $8.95 million to pay for the center, demolishing Expo Pool and creating a new park next to the center.
That debt would be paid off with property tax revenue. Retiring that debt is estimated to cost the owner of an average Fort Dodge home valued at $70,000 about $43 annually.
The center will be built on about 23 acres of land donated by Tom and Norma Schmoker, of Fort Dodge, near the intersection of 32nd Street and 10th Avenue North.
Mayor Terry Lutz described Tuesday's vote as a ''really bright day for the community.''
''It sends a signal that the community does want better quality-of-life opportunities and is willing to step up to get them,'' he said.
Lutz said getting final plans for the center is the next step. He said construction could begin next spring.
The center will include a lap pool, a shallow pool for children, a splashdown pool with slides and a channel called a lazy river.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
