Town hall meeting to discuss future of rec center Tuesday

A town mall meeting has been scheduled by the Treasure Valley YMCA for Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. at the Mountain Home High School gym to outline to the community the next steps in the collaboration process between the Treasure Valley YMCA and the Western Elmore County Recreation District to bring a recreation center to Mountain Home.

During the meeting, representatives from the Y will summarize the process thus far which led to a recommendation by the Y to the WECRD to try and proceed with the community center. That recommendation had followed 18 months of work by the local Community Leadership Development Committee (CLDC).

The Y reps will also identify the conditions necessary for the Y's continued commitment to the process.

In a letter to the WECRD, dated Jan. 20, 2011, Y President and CEO Jim Everett wrote, "We believe that the process has yielded the data and support needed to take the next step toward our shared goal of building a facility...."

Everett also stated in the letter, "We are very interested in continuing to work collaboratively toward the goal and are committed to operate the facility as a YMCA once it is built if the data continues to support this decision"

The WECRD board said in a prepared statement that, "We anticipate that the town hall meeting will clearly identify to our community the next steps of forming a Community Leadership Group to guide the Capital Feasibility Study, and the Capital Campaign if the data supports this.

"This meeting is important for anyone who cares about having a recreation center for our community."

The CLDC's studies had shown support for a rec center with a swimming pool, but also indicated a need to create a capital campaign to raise at least $900,000 initially and $4.5 million eventually in order to build the facility in its entirety. That campaign has yet to be launched, but a committee to do so is expected to be created soon by the WECRD board.