The development of a $17 million community arts and recreation center in the Douglas community would be supported through an intergovernmental development proposal introduced to City Council today by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Under the proposal, the City would provide $4.3 million in Tax Increment Financing for the development of the Quad Communities Art & Recreation Center on the southwest corner of 35th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.

To be co-developed within Ellis Park by the Chicago Park District and The Community Builders Inc. (TCB), the 30,000-square-foot facility would include a full-size gymnasium with two basketball courts, an indoor pool, club rooms, a fitness center and studio, meeting hall, and theater performance spaces.

TCB would also allocate $5.26 million in New Markets Tax Credits for the project, made possible through the City’s acquisition of one acre of Board of Education property and 2.5 acres of Park District property for the project. The center would lease the site from the City for $1 annually for seven years, after which the property would be conveyed to the Chicago Park District.

Other funding would include an $8 million CHA loan. Construction would begin in the fall and be completed by the end of 2015.

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