At the Tuesday afternoon Vanderburgh County Commission meeting, County Attorney David Jones was directed to seek bonds and bank loans to begin refurbishing the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
This means that the county can start to figure out how they’ll utilize the $6 million dollars allocated by the County Council from the American Rescue Plan.
District 3 Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave said the county is required to be under contract for the projects by the end of 2024, and spent by the end of 2025.
Musgrave said they’ll be spending money on improving and updating the building into a usable entertainment venue.
“ … we need better loading docks, we need storage rooms, the building needs to be brought up to code all of those things need to happen," she said.
"So we can't just say 'oh, if we only spend half that money we'd be good.' You have to spend all of it in order to end up with a product that will function as we all want it to. The way it did before, as a hub for a cultural events for music for a stage for meetings for dances, dinner and yes even bingo.”
She said Jones is a veteran, and is passionate about the coliseum project. There’s no set timeline for the project — it’s currently in the planning and fundraising stages.