From the pages of
Sublette Examiner
Volume 2, Number 3 - April 18, 2002
brought to you online by Pinedale Online

Boys & Girls Club proposal presented to SCSD No. 1 board
No action taken by board.
by Rhonda Swain

Boys & Girls Club proposal presented to SCSD No

Members of the Pinedale Hockey Association and supporters of a new Pinedale Boys and Girls Club facility were on hand at Tuesday’s School District No. 1 Board of Trustees meeting to address the benefits of their proposed facility.

Bill Mecham of the Sublette County Recreation Board introduced Ken Hayes of Kenneth Hayes Architect of Squimm, Wash. Mecham said that the hockey organization and supporters of the club joined forces for an indoor multiple use facility, including an indoor hockey rink, to see if they could "combine all these efforts and make this work, and if so, where can we do it?"

Hayes pointed out that the "boys and girls club concept" in this area is not a traditional concept, because of the lack of at-risk, inner city kids, but said it would be a facility where a "broad range of age groups can mix." He said that having the facility on the school campus would allow the "schools to use it regularly to maximize use other than after school."

The alternatives are for separate, stand-alone facilities and a combined facility for a Pinedale indoor ice hockey rink and a new Pinedale Boys and Girls Club/Community Activity Center.

For preliminary planning, the size of the facility was based on school enrollment, assuming approximately half the students will be members of the club. Hayes used 300 members, with 25 percent, or 75 students, at the club at any given time, and came up with a building encompassing 16,293 square feet, not including the indoor hockey rink.

The facility would include a control desk, teen center, game room, art room, learning (tech) center, gymnasium and bathrooms. Hayes said the "most critical aspect is funding, both initial and long-term operation."

He said funding options include private contributions, annual corporate grants, public agency grants, user fees, annual community fundraisers, direct giving by businesses and private members, and endowment funds.

Stressing that a centralized location is critical, Hayes said there are four location options, with the preference being between the pool and the Wrangler gymnasium, and a location east of the middle school. The other locations are east of the track/football field and east of the Sublette Center.

At this point, Hayes is doing what he called "not purely a feasibility study ... collecting and analyzing data" and will be back in May with a complete study.

The proposal, the brainchild of Sublette County property owner Don Kendall, was presented to the board as information-only, so no action was taken.

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