The Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District has narrowed plans for new fields and facilities near the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 40 after surveying residents. The recreation district owns close to 100 acres there.
The plans include a new fieldhouse, which could relieve pressure on the popular recreation center at Kimball Junction. Taxpayer surveys have shown demand for more aquatics and climbing facilities.
Both are included in the new fieldhouse concept, plus indoor sports courts.
Outdoor fields would be on the other end of the property. Trails would run between the two through a wetland restoration area.
District Superintendent Matt Wagoner told the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission July 9 the plans are far from final.
“But we did want to get the design to a phase that we could show to the public what they might be voting for in a bond,” Wagoner said while presenting the draft designs.
That’s because Basin Rec may need to issue a multi-million dollar bond to pay for the new facilities. Planning commissioners said pools in particular are expensive, but most agreed they’re needed.
Voters would need to approve a bond, which would be paid for with property taxes. Basin Rec surveyed area residents in 2023, and they were split on whether to bond this year.
Releasing more concrete plans might help voters decide, Basin Rec Board President Brandi Connolly said.
“What the board had asked the strategic planning consultants to do on this project was to do public engagement with things where people can come and talk, to do small focus groups, stakeholder interviews,” she said, “and then build something and ask the public, ‘Is this what you want and would you be willing to pay for it?’”
The July 9 planning commission presentation was preliminary, and a bond isn’t on November’s ballot yet.
