The city of Airway Heights is scheduled to break ground this week on its new $13.3 million community recreation center—and now is turning its attention toward fundraising efforts to supplement bond funding for the facility and to support future expansion.

The two-story, 35,000-square-foot recreation center is being constructed at 11405 W. Deno Road near the southwest corner of Deno and Hayford roads.

J.C. Kennedy, Airway Heights’ director of parks, recreation, and community services says that most of the cost of the project will be funded through a $13 million bond approved by voters in August 2016.

“The rest of our funding will come from various city sources, the park reserve fund, and some from the state legislature,” he says. “We’re laying the groundwork for another visit to Olympia later this month, during which we hope to gather further legislative support for the project.” 

The project is being constructed through a design-build contract, with Spokane-based Lydig Construction Inc. serving as contractor, and ALSC Architects PS, also of Spokane, serving as architect.

The city originally had expected to break ground in September, but Kennedy says the project still is on schedule despite a two-month delayed start. 

“Because this is a design-build project, it’s taken us a bit longer to go through some of the processes,” he says. “But we’re still on track for a 14-month build cycle and anticipate being able to open next December (2018).”

Plans for the building include a first floor with a gymnasium, a child watch area, and a natatorium featuring an indoor lap pool, recreation pool, hot tub, and sauna. The building’s second floor will include a fitness center with studio space for hosting group exercise classes, such as Pilates, yoga, karate, and spin.

The project also will include developing 7.5 acres of surrounding land into several multipurpose playing fields.

Kennedy says the department held a “Report Out” event last month, at which it presented the results of a feasibility study compiled by Vancouver, Wash.-based Westby Associates Inc., which was designed to determine the level of support for the project and estimate potential future fundraising capacity. 

The study included interviews with a mix of 40 business owners and community members, in which participants were asked if they would consider supporting the project, or whether they might still have concerns or questions about it. 

Overall, Westby Associates Inc. concluded the survey results were encouraging and estimated that the total potential support for the project from private and public sources could be up to $3.5 million over a five-year pledge period. 

“Westby … is still following up with study respondents and more research, but our next step will be to outline plans for a capital campaign and begin initiating it,” says Kennedy. 

Of the feasibility study’s findings, Kennedy says, “One thing I was surprised by was the number of respondents who were concerned about a lack of collaboration and outreach on this project.”

He adds, “As a Parks and Recreation department, community partnerships are something we rely on heavily for all our programs. So, I’m not sure people were aware of how much study and outreach we put in on this project just to get to this point.”

In addition to concerns about collaboration, the study’s participants also included questions about the facility’s accessibility and sustainability, funding and affordability for completion of the project, and the community’s willingness to invest in the facility.

Kennedy says the Report Out event was designed to address those concerns and provide the public with more details about the department’s plans for the project.

“We wanted to let interviewees know we heard and understood their concerns and are taking steps necessary to work on addressing them appropriately,” he says.