Construction crews have moved onto the site of Riverside's future Wellness Center, with excavation and foundation work underway this fall and a public groundbreaking ceremony planned for Saturday, November 7. The project, decades in discussion for the small Washington County city, is being built by Garling Construction, a Cedar Rapids firm that won a $10 million bid for the job.
Crews targeted October 22 to start work, part of a tentative construction timeline Garling Construction released for the site, according to thenews-ia.com. Axiom Consultants of Iowa City is coordinating the construction schedule with Garling, the outlet reports. Riverside Mayor Allen Schneider has said the November groundbreaking ceremony itself will be brief and include key project stakeholders, with further public attendance details expected within about a week.
What Riverside Voters Approved
The project traces back to November 2025, when Riverside voters approved an $8 million general obligation bond to help fund the Wellness Center. The referendum passed by a wide margin, with 266 votes in favor and 90 opposed, according to southeastiowaunion.com. The city's financial overview, published ahead of the vote, had specified that 60% voter approval was required for the bond referendum to pass, per the City of Riverside. The Riverside City Council has since approved a bond purchase agreement for the sale of the $8 million in bonds to underwriter UMB Bank, with the city expecting to receive that bond money in November 2026.
The bond is only part of the funding picture. The city had already set aside $1.5 million from local revenues and donations to combine with the new bond, the southeastiowaunion.com report notes. On top of that, the Washington County Riverboat Foundation awarded the project a $2 million grant during its Spring 2026 cycle — the largest grant the foundation gave out that cycle, according to kciiradio.com. The project has also drawn an $89,975 award from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship for planned stormwater quality practices, along with $30,000 in incentives from MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy for proposed energy efficiency features.
Conflicting Price Tags on the Project
Exactly how much the Wellness Center will cost depends on which account you read. Southeastiowaunion.com reports the city estimates the total cost at about $11.5 million, a figure that could climb toward roughly $13 million once engineering, design and financing fees are included. Separately, kciiradio.com has referred to it as the $12.5 million Wellness Center in its coverage of a recent Riverside City Council meeting. As of its June report, kciiradio.com put the project's committed funds at $11,619,402.
Two Floors of Fitness Space Planned
Once finished, the Wellness Center will rise as a 40,000-square-foot building at 500 Galileo Drive near Highland Elementary School, bringing two floors of recreational equipment to the growing town. The first level is planned to include three multisport courts and an outdoor patio, per kciiradio.com's earlier reporting. Upstairs, the second level is designed to hold a three-lane indoor walking and jogging track, a cardio and weightlifting area, and a fitness studio.
Timeline Stretches Into 2028
For now, crews are expected to focus on excavation, foundation work and backfill for the remainder of 2026, with construction scheduled to resume in early March after winter. Mayor Schneider has said the goal is to complete the facility by the end of 2027, though KCII Radio reports the Wellness Center's targeted completion is April 2028, with thenews-ia.com likewise reporting a spring 2028 opening planned near Highland Elementary School.
Riverside's build fits into a broader wave of wellness-facility construction across Iowa. Crawford County celebrated the opening of its own $18 million wellness center in June, according to westerniowaadvantage.com, while Iowa Western had planned to open a $15 million, 70,000-square-foot campus recreation and wellness center of its own by spring 2027, per nonpareilonline.com. Riverside's project remains considerably smaller in scale, but after years of discussion and a decisive bond vote, the small city is now watching its own version take shape on Galileo Drive.
