Chubbuck closer to possibly building recreation center
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Rachel Cox-Rosen, KPVI
CHUBBUCK — The Pocatello recreation center may be getting a Chubbuck counterpart. But Melanie Evans, the city-council woman spearheading the project, says their idea is one-of-a-kind.
“We’ve had a few people make comments about how there’s other places in town that we have, and what we have envisioned, and what we had in mind is not like any of those spaces,” said Evans. “It’s something we don’t have in our area or anywhere even close to our area.”
The city wants to build an all-encompassing recreation center – a space for people of all ages to come swim, workout, compete and spend time together.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Chubbuck resident Alex DeSmet. “I think any time we have the opportunity to add recreation and add options for people to increase their ability to be fit, I think that’s a valued asset to the community.”
The city had a public meeting last week to present some visual models of what the center may look like, and to gather feedback about what the community wants out of the center.
“I’d like to see an indoor pool, and maybe some weights and recreation like exercise things, and things for the kids too, and just a lot of fun things for the family,” said Pocatello resident Laura Littlefield.
City officials put out a survey a couple months ago to gauge the public’s interest in a recreation center. They say 80% of respondents said they would be okay with a tax increase.
Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England says a facility like this could help bring more people to the city.
“Something like this might actually be quite important to our community for future growth, which obviously then broadens the tax base, which then with the right kind of grown, lessens the tax burden on all of us,” said Mayor England.
The city is still asking for the public’s feedback. If you want to weigh in, visit the city of Chubbuck’s Facebook page.
From here, architects will compile the feedback, design a concept and the city will determine the cost.
This story originally appeared on KPVI. It is posted here with permission.