The Snydeville Basin Special Recreation District still says it can build two new fieldhouses with $71 million, less than half the amount of bonds it initially proposed this year.
The new buildings would just be smaller, with fewer fitness and recreation offerings. Click here to see the latest designs and financial information from Basin Rec.
The recreation district says it is pursuing public-private partnerships to include extra amenities that it doesn’t want to spend the bond revenue on.
Several residents showed up to a public hearing Sept. 23 to support one of those amenities: a combination miniature golf sculpture garden.
Basin resident Jennifer Riff said her nonprofit would fund and operate the course at Basin Rec’s proposed Silver Creek Village facility.
“I have teenagers; I'd love for them to be able to go and have that as an experience with their friends,” she said at the public hearing hosted by the Summit County Council. “Older relatives come and visit us. It's nice to have a non-aggressively athletic thing for them to do with family members.”
The same partnership — where Basin Rec donates the land and a third party covers the costs — is how the district plans to create a climbing gym.
Climbing was formerly proposed for the other fieldhouse location in Jeremy Ranch, on the county-owned Cline Dahle property.
Now it’s part of the plan for the much larger Silver Creek Village location. District Director Robert Parrish said Basin Rec would build the shell and potentially lease it to another operator.
“The advantage of a [public-private partnership] for me is that, one, I don't have to purchase the outfitting, so the climbing walls, the ropes, and that type of thing. Nor do I have to hire certified climbing instructors or employees,” Parrish told county councilmembers. “That's one way that we're looking at reducing the cost.”
Under the tighter budget, the proposed Jeremy Ranch building has shrunk from a 64,000-square-foot fieldhouse to a 20,000-square-foot community center.
The Silver Creek Village fieldhouse blueprint, which would have measured 120,000 square feet, will be 68,000 square feet if voters pass the bonds.
The larger building will still have a new indoor pool, but now without lap lanes. Both buildings will still have fitness facilities.
The only resident to criticize the plans at the Sept. 23 council meeting was Basin Rec’s former board chair, Ben Castro.
“I recognize that there is a need for additional facilities, but not for the amount requested up to $71 million,” Castro said. “The largest previous bond Basin Recreation had was $25 million, with $15 million for open space and $10 million for facilities.”
The general election is Nov. 3.
