Sites for new recreation center to be evaluated

Metcalf Builders Inc., has examined five potential sites for Carson City's new recreation center and will discuss them at Tuesday's Parks and Recreation Commission.

"All have their limitations, but all have their advantages," said Roger Moellendorf, Parks and Recreation director. "You can't get an apples-and-apples comparison."

Mills Park, next to the Carson City Aquatic Center, was the site initially favored, until some residents worried about the loss of green space.

And a study found it would cost the city $3 million just for the parking spaces at a Mills Park site, Moellendorf added.

This "behooved us to go back and look at the other sites."

Those other sites include Bureau of Land Management property at Arrowhead Drive and Goni Road; property near ballfields at JohnD Winters Centennial Park; next to the BMX track at the Edmonds Sports Complex; and land north of Western Nevada Community College at Koontz Canyon Road owned by the state and college.

Mills Park is still viable, however, because it's "a great central location" that offers "cost savings and synergy because the city could use mostly existing staff to manage it," he said.

It, along with the other sites, will be evaluated by cost and a host of other factors by Metcalf.

The quest for a new recreation center became serious in February, but its roots go back almost 10 years. Carson City voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax called Question 18 for parks and open space in 1996. Originally conceived as a community gym, it expanded into a recreation center.

Before the search was narrowed down, the city looked at 15 potential locations, Moellendorf said.

Whichever site is chosen, it must allow for a variety of amenities, including exercise areas, racquetball courts, indoor tracks for walking and jogging, locker rooms, pools or other water-recreation facilities, climbing walls, multipurpose rooms and an area suitable for both team sports and community events.

The commissioners won't be asked to make a recommendation until February at the earliest. The Board of Supervisors must then approve the site.

n Contact reporter Terri Harber at 882-2111, ext. 215, or tharber@nevadaappeal.com

If you go

WHAT: Parks and Recreation Commission meeting

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: Sierra Room of the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St. .