Architect named to design community recreation center

Thursday, October 24, 2013

An effort to build a community recreation center in Mountain Home moved another step forward after an architecture firm was selected to design the actual facility.

During a special meeting Oct. 9, the Western Elmore County Recreation District board of directors approved a recommendation to select the Lombard-Conrad Architects firm to develop plans for the 33,000 square foot facility.

Based out of Boise, the firm was one of four finalists vying for the recreation center contract. A seven-person selection team met with representatives from each company Oct. 7 as part of the final selection process.

Each company presented their proposals on the recreation complex to the committee, which included representatives from the Treasure Valley YMCA and the local recreation district.

The seven-person selection committee was unanimous as they ranked each of the companies, said Keyra Elmo, a local representative with the Treasure Valley organization. She added that the architecture company has designed similar recreation projects in other communities across the region.

On Monday, representatives with the YMCA met with the company to negotiate the final costs associated with the contract. The recreation district board is expected to make its final acceptance at its next public meeting.

If built, the Treasure Valley YMCA and local recreation district would manage this recreation complex, located on South 18th East Street across from Mountain Home Junior High School. The facility is expected to be more than twice the size of the existing Parks and Recreation Activity Center next to St. Luke's Elmore hospital.

Details on what the community facility will actually include are still under review and could change once the final plans are drawn, Elmo said. Plans presented at public hearings in recent years had mentioned basketball courts and an indoor running track with additional space dedicated to other fitness and recreation outlets.

However, it's not certain if some of these amenities will remain in the final version, she added. While original plans called for building an indoor pool when the complex was ready to expand once the initial facility was built, current plans do not call for building a pool.

Before construction can start on the actual building, a separate effort is required to raise more than half million dollars to cover the final building costs. Scheduled to start in November, the capital campaign needs to raise at least $600,000 over a 10-month period to build the $5.1 million recreation complex. Those dollars would tie into $4.5 million in grant funding and collected tax revenues set aside specifically for the building's construction.

However, those actual costs are expected to become more definitive based on the architectural plans. Those estimates would include the actual building costs in addition to the amount of money needed to operate the facility on a day-to-day basis. Those cash flow projections are expected to be finalized by the end of December.

If everything remains on track, the YMCA and recreation district could begin the process of selecting a contractor to build the facility in the last quarter of 2014. Pending the outcome of the capital campaign, construction would begin in early 2015 with the doors due to open about 10 months later.

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    Just wonder why things like this seem to be decided at a "SPECIAL" meeting and not at a regular meeting.

    -- Posted by B Mullen on Thu, Oct 24, 2013, at 1:46 PM
  • I just hope that Lombard-Conrad Architects know that the majority of the residents don't want this, so hope they don't waste too much time and money on the design. Surely they must know how Mountain Home feels about the WECRD.

    -- Posted by Victoria Olson on Thu, Oct 24, 2013, at 6:57 PM
  • Same old stupid stuff. We are going to hire someone to design a building but we do not know yet what will go inside.

    You have done this at least 8 times---had drawings done, etc. Then, the WECRD Board changes their minds on what THEY want in the building. This has ALL cost money.

    Why not figure out what you will put in the building (and what local businesses you will put out of business for this private country club) and then design the building? Once again, cart before the horse. Nothing with you people will EVER change.

    -- Posted by OpinionMissy on Fri, Oct 25, 2013, at 9:06 AM
  • Who is voting this in????

    -- Posted by bloodyknuckles on Fri, Oct 25, 2013, at 11:02 AM
  • Who votes this crap in??? Why does the WECRD not listen to the MAJORITY of the people in this town?!?!

    -- Posted by bloodyknuckles on Fri, Oct 25, 2013, at 11:05 AM
  • Here's the story:

    Once up on a time a group of people came together and decided Mountain Home needed a recreation building which would include an indoor pool. Everyone got excited about having an indoor pool. As the years past, property owners were taxed each year since the beginning of this story. Now after all these years they have decided an indoor pool is out and an inside track and basketball court will work better for the senior citizens that live in this town.

    -- Posted by MsMarylin on Sat, Oct 26, 2013, at 11:26 AM
  • A YMCA without a pool seems like a waste. The cost to build it as is would be $5.1million, and the cost to add a pool would be another $5 million? The annual operating expenses as is would be $590,000, the operating expenses on a pool would be $700,000 alone? Are we just taking someone's word for those figures? They don't even seem realistic, especially when you start googling the cost to build ymca's elsewhere that are bigger and cheaper and have everything a YMCA should have. Some people whine that they shouldn't have to pay for a pool if they don't plan to use it. I already have my college degree so I will never use the junior or senior high school, but I have no issues paying for those. The kicker will be that the same people whining about not paying their share for a real YMCA will be the same ones filing police reports for vandalism and theft when bored to death (and obese) teenagers start finding other things to do, or ways to support a newly formed drug habit. My guess is that our yearly dues will end up being a wash. Sure, add a pool and my dues would increase. But at least I would buy a family pass. Don't add a pool, and what is a membership good for? I already have a place to exercise, already have a place to play basketball, and already have a place to run. So then membership numbers drop way down, and the people that do want a membership end up paying more as a result. We could go with 1,000 people paying (or whatever the real number is) an average of $600 per year ($600,000), or go with 500 people paying $1,200 per year ($600,000) for half of a YMCA.

    -- Posted by My-2-cents on Mon, Oct 28, 2013, at 6:28 PM
  • This article is from Texas on a new YMCA, they are building a 32,000 square foot YMCA with a pool for a total of $5.5 million.

    "Now under construction, the Hutto Family YMCA will be approximately 32,000-square-feet when completed and include a state-of-the-art fitness center, child watch area, full-size gymnasium, indoor natatorium, cardio theater, group exercise studios, teen center and much more."

    We are supposed to believe that our pool could cost the same as their entire YMCA with a pool?

    -- Posted by My-2-cents on Mon, Oct 28, 2013, at 8:46 PM
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    Old Guy,

    Because like our goverment this is a corrupt process.

    If there wasn't a waste of all the taxpayer money over the years then we wouldn't be in this spot. If the taxes taken in were invested they would have the money to build anything they wanted. I also like how this will turn into a spot only people with money will be able to use. Even if you have paid taxes for the last 10 years on this like I have; and now are to busy paying for school levy's and can't afford to pay the yearly dues you are screwed.

    -- Posted by Trouble2011 on Tue, Oct 29, 2013, at 10:23 AM
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