Members of the Powell Recreation District Board arrived at Park County School District 1’s board room on Aug. 26 with architect Kane Morris in tow — they had an idea to float: A plan to build Powell's own rec center, potentially on PCSD1 land. 

The Powell Rec Board has considered a rec center in the past, Powell Rec Director Colby Stenerson told the Tribune. While this iteration has been discussed for close to two years, a center has been tossed around far longer. 

Prior to the Powell Aquatic Center there was a plan for a full rec center in the early 2000s. A survey was completed around 2014 along with plans, but funding never materialized. 

Now, the makeup of the board has helped get the ball rolling.

“I think we have more people on our board that are more passionate about it,” Stenerson said. “There’s quite a few people on our board that are committed to trying to see this thing through.”

The rec district approached the school board in part because the school district is the rec department's governing body, he said. Additionally, there are things that would make having the center on PCSD1 land appealing. Having the rec center next to the high school could make it accessible to kids and available for district sports events and while employee offices would move to the rec center, the proximity to the current rec office is also beneficial.

“We've been working on this project for a while now … with the help of our architect, Kane Morris, we drafted some plans … our board feels strongly that we could use a facility, a recreation facility, in our community,” Stenerson said at the meeting. “We think it will make our community much better in a lot of aspects, and help out a lot of kids as well as adults.”

The facility will be multi-purpose, Stenerson added, “all encompassing, to reach as many people as possible.”

The plans are close to finished, but subject to changes throughout the process, including with funding.

Activities the department has kept in mind for a rec center include basketball, volleyball and wrestling (a room was added in the back of the facility) and the space could also be used for sports like pickleball. The goal is to keep it available to as many people as possible, Stenerson said. It could even be a space for walking and jogging in the morning. 

The proposed design would have two 74-foot-long cross courts and an 84-foot-long main court, which falls within the regulation range of high school basketball courts. The high school’s court is 94 feet long and the auxiliary court is 82 feet long, said Mike Heny, the Powell High School boys basketball coach and a Powell Rec board member.

The courts would use a “sport court” material rather than wood, due to its cheaper cost, versatility and lower maintenance requirement.

The rec center could also help address spillover from basketball tournaments and practices, Heny added.

“We just don't have the facilities in town, [we] haven't had enough since I was a kid, still don't. My kids, the basketball guys, got kicked out of the college this year, which was an option when I didn't have open gyms,” he said. “There's just not a lot of places for them to go and families to go and take their kids and do activities.”

While the school district facilities would still be used for activities, many could be moved to the rec center, Stenerson responded, when asked by trustee Tracy Morris if indoor activities for soccer or rec volleyball, for example, would move out of school facilities. 

“It would give us a lot more options community wide, for all, and school wide too,” Stenerson said. 

The school facilities get plenty of use at the present.

The middle school gym is used 6 a.m.-10 p.m. based on demand, said Kyle Rohrer, the Powell Middle School principal and a Powell Rec board member.

“All of our elementaries are so small that even for any young, traveling teams of any sort, you're just fighting and climbing to try to find a decent time,” he said. “I know we had third and fourth graders last year finishing up basketball at 8:30 or 9 p.m. at Westside.”

At this point it’s unclear if the land would be owned by the district or the rec department. The rec department's office building is on city land but the building is owned by Powell Rec, Stenerson explained. If Powell Rec left the building the city would take over.

While offices would be moving to the rec center, he said Powell Rec would likely keep the current building to continue using the storage, and board meetings may be held there. In depth discussions about the allocation of land will take place in executive session, Superintendent Jay Curtis told the PCSD1 board.

Right now the rec department is looking to narrow down the rec center’s location — the site needs to be approximately 3.5-4 acres for the roughly 12,000 square foot building — and to gather funding for somewhere in the ballpark of $3.5-4 million dollars, possibly more. 

Powell Rec is on the lookout for funding, Stenerson said, and while they haven’t found much at the state level, they’re hoping to find some grants.

The building would likely take five years to complete, between site planning, fundraising and beginning construction, said Danny Shorb, the chairman of the Powell Rec board.