WECRD to launch capital campaign

Mark Hiddleston addressed the public last week at the YMCA town hall meeting. Photo by Brian S. Orban

Following months of studies and research, the Mountain Home community is set to enter the next phase of a long-term effort to build a community recreation center here.

With three years to go before its doors are due to open, representatives with the Treasure Valley YMCA outlined the initiative's future steps during a town hall meeting Feb. 22.

"We are at a transition stage in the process," said David Duro, operations chief with the Treasure Valley YMCA. The organization remains under contract with the Western Elmore County Recreation District to explore the possibility of building a YMCA-run facility here.

Comprehensive surveys and revenue studies over the past 18 months illustrated the public's support for this facility, he said. Additional research lead to a decision last November to pursue the construction of a community recreation complex that included an indoor track, regulation-size gymnasium and indoor aquatics center.

The next challenge begins in coming weeks as community representatives meet to explore ways to raise the additional money to get this facility built. Critical to the success of this effort, the capital campaign seeks to raise at least $900,000 to tie into a cash reserve maintained by the Mountain Home-based recreation district.

This money "gets us started," said Mark Hiddleston, who will co-chair the capital campaign feasibility committee. Anything above that amount will either speed up this construction process or help ease the tax burden on the local community, he added.

According to a timeline presented at last week's town hall meeting, the actual capital campaign begins in August with this effort expected to wrap up by October 2012.

Money raised during that effort would only cover the initial portion of what will likely become a multi-phase project, Hiddleston said. That initial step would include a community recreation center featuring an indoor track, free weight and cardiovascular fitness rooms, teen center and youth activities area.

Building the entire complex at once won't work here due to the significant up-front costs, which is why the plan involves building it in stages, Duro said. This gives the community the ability to control the future direction of the final facility, which could include accelerating those plans if support for this facility gains momentum.

"While we'd love to build it all at once, the reality is that we'll have to build it in stages," Hiddleston said. The goal is to develop an affordable facility without incurring long-term debt.

The capital campaign and later steps represent a marathon "with exit ramps all the way," said Jim Everett, chief executive officer with the Treasure Valley YMCA. "We may find out that the money is not out there."

In short, Mountain Home's community recreation center dream could end if this capital campaign fails, Everett said.

"Until ground is broken, we still have the option to pull back and not proceed," Hiddleston added. However, information from previous community surveys indicate this project will remain a workable, self-sustaining and viable community "anchor" -- a place where everyone can gather.

But even if Mountain Home raises the money needed to get this initial facility built, it still needs subsidies and monthly membership fees to keep it running, according to Duro. Information collected during a market study last year puts that number at $77,000 with the WECRD paying those subsidies. However, this amount is based on "very conservative estimates" and could come out less than expected, he added.

Meanwhile, those needed subsidies would jump significantly if the recreation center moves forward to build the gymnasium and pool complex. Even with a 60 percent increase in monthly membership fees, the center would need about $218,000 from the recreation district to cover its overhead, Duro said.

The town hall meeting also gave the Treasure Valley based organization a chance to highlight the final results of a formal marketing survey targeting the local public. Overall, 74 percent of those polled supported the construction of a community recreation center with 10 percent showing their opposition, said Steven Dean, a representative with Strategic Research Associates, which conducted the study.

Support remained strongest in younger families in the Mountain Home area with a similar level of support among households with children up to 18 years old. Meanwhile, more than half of respondents said they would definitely or likely join a YMCA with an indoor aquatic center, even if it meant paying more for a monthly membership.

In comparison, support for a basic community recreation center with lower membership fees hovered around 44 percent with public backing for a recreation center and gymnasium dropping to 37 percent.

In addition, the facility's proposed location adjacent to Mountain Home Junior High School played a significant role in garnering local support, Dean said. More than half of those polled were far more likely to use this type of recreation center if they could get there within five minutes. That level of support dropped the farther away people lived from the planned facility.

Dean emphasized that the survey results are based on "very conservative" averages and takes into account personal biases and impulsive or "feel good" figures of those responding to these polls.

"People typically overestimate when they respond" to these surveys, and the final results take this into account, he added.

Looking at the other results, Dean said those who remain opposed to the recreation center concept continue to question the feasibility of running this type of facility while others argue against using tax dollars to subsidize the community complex.

Of the nearly two dozen people attending the town hall meeting, a few spoke in support of this initiative. An unidentified woman considered a YMCA with a pool "the best thing for senior citizens" in this community.

A handful of others were harshly critical. Brandon Stahl accused the WECRD of "raping and pillaging" the taxpayers of Mountain Home, asking "when does it stop?"

In response, Hiddleston emphasized that a majority of people in the audience and across Mountain Home don't agree with this perspective.

"They have said that they want a YMCA," Hiddleston added.

Stahl also accused the Treasure Valley YMCA of concealing facts about its Caldwell facility, implying that the success stories it highlighted in past briefings were exaggerated.

Everett defended his organization, adding that feedback from Caldwell residents indicate that their local YMCA was the best thing that ever happened to their community.