Community center gets spotlight
FAIRMONT — Is a community center in Fairmont a feasible project? If so, what components should be included so the facility is sustainable and successful?
Gathering information to answer those questions encompassed most of the day Thursday for Jeff King of Ballard*King and Associates, a Colorado-based firm hired by the Project 1590 community center committee. The company specializes in recreational facility planning.
Throughout the day, King held hour-long sessions at Southern Minnesota Education Campus for a cross section of residents: senior and retired citizens; city, county and school officials; business leaders; athletic associations; Chamber of Commerce and Visit Fairmont representatives; non-profits and volunteers; the Fairmont Hockey Association; and representatives of local fitness businesses. He looked to the various groups to gather information in three areas: demographic data and statistics; existing leisure and recreational opportunities in Fairmont; and determining the needs and gaps in those opportunities.
“We are not architects. We are not engineers. We don’t build anything,” King told city and county officials.
In its 26 years of operation, Ballard*King has collected data for about 600 projects, but only a portion resulted in construction.
“We provide the tools necessary for a community to make a wise decision,” King said. “It wasn’t that we told a community they shouldn’t do it. They came to that conclusion themselves.”
King pointed to a drawing of the floor plan containing all the possible components for a proposed Fairmont community center, with areas color-coded to identify what might be built first and what could be added later. He estimated the project would probably cost more than $40 million if all those components were included, but the project likely would be smaller and simplified after all the research and data are collated and evaluated.
“Our projections are pretty conservative,” he said.
King asked officials to identify any gaps in facilities or programming in the community. Responses included the need for a building suitable for a gathering of 350 people or more or even a boat show; an indoor pool for family recreation or a pool for competitive swimming; and a facility that can hold tournaments from basketball to billiards.
Some expressed concern that including a fitness center could put one of the three already existing in Fairmont out of business.
“Fitness isn’t the primary objective of the facility, but I can tell you we hear that from every community we work in,” said King, adding that the center would use possibly 10 percent of its square footage to create an entry-level interest for fitness. He planned to meet with the managers and owners of the local fitness centers later Thursday.
Including a senior center also was discussed. Prior to the government officials presentation, King had met with about 15 retirees and senior citizens, none of whom use the existing senior center. He explained that the type of center Fairmont has traditionally draws guests over 80 years of age for meals and cards.
“They’re not getting any Baby Boomers,” King said. “Their interests have changed. They’re looking for something different.”
Inevitably, discussion turned to the subject of finances, how to pay for and maintain a community center. The local option sales tax instituted in October 2017 is expected to generate $600,000 annually, but those funds can be used for any recreational amenities and trails as well as the community center, according to the question voters answered on the ballot. If the city financed the building or operations, it would create a hit on property owners.
“Any additional money for bonding and operations would be in addition to our local levy. We’d have to raise taxes,” said City Administrator Mike Humpal. “If we were to operate this facility, we would have to create an entire department to do so or contract with another entity to operate it.”
Steve Hawkins, co-chairman of the community center committee, said the group is looking at different management models, including a city-owned but not operated facility, or the creation of a foundation to handle the center’s business.
“Nobody in the community knows how to run a facility like this. No matter who owns it, we would need one of those people,” Hawkins said.
“It’s not so much building a building. That’s the easy part. It’s getting the right person to make sure it’s successful,” said Mayor Debbie Foster.
Councilman Bruce Peters announced that the Fairmont National Guard Armory is scheduled to be decommissioned in a few years and will be sold.
“It’s a dynamic we should probably look into. I just thought I’d throw that out there because it’s pretty important,” Peters said.
State Rep. Bob Gunther later confirmed that the Fairmont facility is on the Veterans Affairs list of facilities to be decommissioned within the next four years because the armory has only staff, not a National Guard unit, stationed there. He said the city would be given first priority to buy, followed by the county and then industry.