Dist. 303 not sold on $2 million rec center fix
It will cost about $2 million for St. Charles Unit District 303 to rebuild part of a community recreation center infected with black mold two summers ago.
School board members said this week they want a better feel for what the community wants before committing that kind of cash to new construction.
District officials uncovered the mold in August 2012 during normal maintenance of the racquetball courts at the John B. Norris Recreation Center. It cost about $94,000 to correct the situation. Full repairs await a decision about the future of the building.
The recreation center is its own not-for-profit. But because the building sits on the campus of St. Charles East High School, it's become an integral part of the district's swim team offerings.
The district assumed ownership of the rec center building when the pool needed $1.3 million in repairs that the not-for-profit couldn't afford. Now the not-for-profit pays the school district about $276,000 every year to rent the space. It also pays into a contingency fund for the building.
Jon Monken, the former city alderman who runs the not-for-profit, said his group will shoulder about $1.23 million of the $2 million rebuilding and remodeling costs if the school board wants to move forward with upgrading the space.
The district would pay the money upfront. The not-for-profit would reimburse the district with an annual payment of $81,500 for the next 15 years.
Monken and his team want to outfit the space with new workout rooms. The idea is to update the rec center to make it more useful to students and more attractive to potential customers.
The not-for-profit sees itself as a viable competitor to local private gyms such as XSport Fitness. Board members said they weren't so sure that's true. At a committee meeting, most trustees favored an $11,000 feasibility and market study of the rec center.
The study will show what the potential is for attracting new customers if upgrades go forward.
"If we don't know what we're doing, we shouldn't spend a couple million dollars," said board member Ed McNally. "I don't want this to be a giant white elephant five years from now."
Superintendent Don Schlomann said just rebuilding and upgrading the area impacted by mold may not be enough of a draw. He pointed to the restroom facilities as "a huge weakness."
There is only one toilet and one urinal in the men's locker room. The situation is equally poor on the women's side.
"You can't assume you're going to spend ($2 million) and have a great facility," Schlomann said.
He said the fact that the building was donated to the community and school district is the only reason this project is a high priority. There are more pressing needs at the district's middle schools, Schlomann said.
Schlomann said the $2 million upgrade would provide flexibility in how the district could use the space in the future even if the not-for-profit organization no longer existed.
It's the ongoing ownership of the building that fueled board member Jim Gaffney to say the district should pay for the entire $2 million upgrade on its own.
"To me, it's a simple business transaction," Gaffney said. "We own the building. We have a community obligation to maintain that rec center. We have to bring it up to code. I don't see why we, as the owner, are saddling another entity with the cost. The cost to bring it up to standards should be our costs, and then we should adjust the rent (to the not-for-profit) accordingly."
Right now, the only proposal on the table is the $11,000 feasibility study. The full school board will vote on that expense next month.
If the results are not favorable, it's possible the district could just demolish the problematic wing of the building and not rebuild. That would cost about $232,000.