The City of Riverside is hosting a town hall on Monday to give residents an opportunity to ask questions about the upcoming bond referendum for the city’s proposed wellness center.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Riverside City Hall Council Chambers, where members of the Riverside city council, city staff, and wellness center design team will be available to answer voters’ questions. Members of the public in attendance will have up to three minutes to address the city representatives and ask questions.

City administrator Cole Smith discussed why the city decided to hold the town hall, “We try our best to meet people where they’re at with information, whether that’s online through a public website, putting it in our water bill newsletter, and flyers, but truly as a city government, one of the best ways to do it is to have an in-person meeting, allow people to come voice their questions and thoughts they have, and this is a tried and true method of doing that.”

The proposed bond would allow the city to borrow a maximum of $8 million. Plans for the wellness center, which would be located on Galileo Drive near Riverside Elementary School, include three basketball courts, concessions, locker rooms, a community room, storage space and an outdoor patio on the first floor and a weight room, a fitness studio and a track on the second floor. The bond would allow the city to levy a maximum of $28.86 per $1000 of property valuation in additional taxes, but City Administrator Cole Smith says that the city council currently intends to pay the debt off through alternative revenue sources such as a Riverboat Foundation grant the city has applied for in the Fall 2025 cycle.