Marimn Health, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s health care organization, plans to construct a new $15.8 million youth and family recreation center on tribal reservation land off of U.S. 95, near Worley, Idaho, says Marimn Health CEO Helo Hancock.

Hancock says the development is in the early stages. As currently designed, the main building will include 33,000 square feet of space. The facility will offer indoor and outdoor amenities, including a family waterpark, sports fields, playground, pavilion, picnic area, and fitness equipment.

The waterpark will include lap lanes, a lazy river, a splash pad, a water climbing wall, water toys, and a waterslide, says Hancock. The sports fields will include softball and baseball fields, a basketball court, and football fields that also can be used as powwow grounds.

In addition to a water park and sports fields, spaces for child care, adult recreation, and youth programs, such as those offered through the Boys & Girls Club of Kootenai County, will also be available.

The Boys & Girls Club and Marimn Health partnered last year to bring the nonprofit’s programs to the reservation. Between October 2017 and May 2018, 125 Native American children signed up and participated, says Hancock.

Hancock says program participation rates have been exciting, “but we’re also busting at the seams.”

“We have wonderful youth here on the reservation, and we want to give them every opportunity to succeed,” he says.

The recreation center is part of the Marimn Health’s efforts to address health care holistically. Hancock asserts one reason for building the facility is to help break the cycle of crime, substance abuse, and school dropouts that some youths within the tribe experience.

Hancock says he anticipates that construction will start in late spring or early summer of next year and be completed in summer 2020. NAC Architecture, of Spokane, is the architect, and no contractor has been selected yet.