Olympians to join Walsh in push for JP recreation center

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/03/21/olympians-join-walsh-push-for-rec-center/UoyVxTmDVdFdw8tF2b4UUM/story.html

Olympians to join Walsh in push for JP recreation center
By Tim Logan Globe Staff March 21, 2016

City officials and community activists will launch yet another effort to raise money to build a recreation center and skating rink in Jamaica Plain at an event Monday that will feature several notable local sports luminaries.

Hockey great Mike Eruzione, soccer Olympian Kristine Lilly and New England Revolution player Chris Tierney will join Mayor Martin J. Walsh at the event for the recreation center, which would include an indoor ice rink and turf soccer field along with academic and social service space one block from the Jackson Square Orange Line stop.

The project has been in the works for nearly a decade and was approved by city officials in 2011. It was previously estimated to cost $16 million, but the price tag has since risen to $21.5 million. And finding the money to build it has been a challenge. Urban Edge, the nonprofit community development group behind the center, said it has cobbled together about $11 million in state and federal funds and private donations. But it still needs another $10 million.

So Urban Edge, Walsh and the athletes will kick off a new fundraising campaign Monday. They’re focusing on the health and community benefits of bringing a year-round recreation center to a neighborhood with few indoor options.