City takes steps toward community center

By JOHN STANG

The Daily Inter Lake

The city of Kalispell hopes to hire a consultant by mid-summer to map out how to tackle a proposed community center.

Parks and Recreation Department staff members are preparing to ask for proposals from consultants, hoping the price won't exceed $50,000. The City Council will make the hiring decisions - probably in a few weeks - after hearing the staff's recommendations.

An 11-person advisory committee has been brainstorming about a community center since late 2005, and now thinks it is time for a professional consultant to find sites, crunch budget numbers and map out facilities.

A consultant's study likely would last from six to eight months, said Mike Baker, director of Parks and Rec.

That consultant likely will hold open houses and try other ways to get feedback on what residents want in a community center, he said.

"A lot of times, we can't run programs because we don't have any place to put them. … We don't have any single facility that belongs to us," Baker said.

Although Kalispell has about 20,000 residents, the immediate area has about 40,000 people who are potential users of such a center, he said.

Kalispell likely will annex some neighboring areas. Also, the city is the hub for unincorporated areas near Kalispell.

The committee tentatively is looking for a 5-acre site for a building with open outdoors space, room to expand and parking areas.

A consultant would look at potential sites, figure out which programs a center should offer, the building's size and layout, building costs, funding sources, operation costs, annual revenue sources, staffing and timetables.

The biggest question mark is funding the center, Baker said. The city has not identified funding sources. Baker speculated that private-public partnerships might be explored.

A community center could include a community room, classrooms, multipurpose rooms, a gym, weight room, outdoor basketball courts, senior programs, locker rooms and a kitchen.

Possible extra facilities could be a skating park, an ice rink and an indoor pool, Baker said.

A community center would try not to duplicate area health clubs, and likely would charge lesser fees. Programs would be set up for all ages, from children to senior citizens, Baker said.

"We're going to be looking at programs … that target groups that have nothing at this time," Baker said.

Surveys of students at Flathead High School and Kalispell Junior High School showed strong support for a community center.

Baker pointed to some national studies that concluded that community centers and recreation programs cut back on juvenile crimes - with the prevention measures costing drastically less per person than the per-person cost to house prisoners.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com