NOVEMBER 4, 2024|
Photo – Hanna Recreation Center swimming pool – Bigfoot99 file photo
In Hanna, the town council approved spending more than $6,000 to winterize the town’s closed and shuttered recreation center.
In the 1980’s, the coal mine companies built a large recreation center to attract workers and their families to the town of Hanna. The facility featured a heated indoor pool, weight room, large gymnasium, and a racquetball court. As the coal mines shut down in the early 2000’s, the town took financial responsibility of the rec center.
The facility was built when Hanna had a population of approximately 3,000 residents. The latest census shows less than 700 people currently live in the northern Carbon County town.
Using impact assistance funds from the nearby wind turbine construction projects, such as Ekola Flats, the town was able to keep the recreation center open despite dwindling membership numbers. However, as less and less impact assistance money came in, the town was forced to spend more of its annual budget on the rec center.
After roughly 45 years, the budget could no longer support the average $300,000 a year it cost to operate the recreation center. This past June, the Hanna town council voted to indefinitely close the building and use the money for other projects.
Speaking at the August 14th Hanna council candidate forum, Mayor Jayson Nordquist explained that the town simply could not afford to keep the recreation center open any longer. The mayor said he, and the other council members, had no choice but to close the facility.
Last summer, Hanna residents were invited to a public meeting where the town council explained the financial situation of the rec center. Attendees suggested ways to save the beloved institution, such as reaching out to state and federal representatives for funding assistance or creating a non-profit organization to take over the day-to-day operations of the rec center.
At the August 14th Hanna candidate forum, Mayor Nordquist said former mayor Jon Ostling and the town council unsuccessfully tried everything to keep the facility open.
Mayor Nordquist explained that the facility requires more than $1 million worth of improvements and repairs to be fully operational again.
The facility was officially shuttered on August 1st. At the August 14th candidate forum, Mayor Nordquist promised to reopen the rec center during the summer, when heating costs, which made up the bulk of the facility’s operational expenses, will be much lower.
In the meantime, the town must decide how to preserve the unheated building during the winter. At the October 8th Hanna town council meeting, the governing body reviewed two proposals to winterize the recreation center.
Mayor Nordquist mentioned that the first proposal would require the town to spend additional money to prepare the building’s cooling equipment for winter.
The second quote was from Gary’s Plumbing and Heating in Laramie. Mayor Nordquist said the company has agreed to fully winterize the recreation center.
The mayor said out of the 25 plumping companies he called for quotes, only Brent’s Plumbing And Heating in Cheyenne and Gary’s responded. Because Brent’s refused to work on the cooling system, Mayor Nordquist recommended hiring Gary’s Plumbing and Heating.
The Hanna town council unanimously voted to accept the $6,382.72 bid from Gary’s Heating and Plumbing to winterize the recreation center.
