MONDAY, July 20, 2026|
Photo – Hanna Recreation Center – Bigfoot99 file photo
Hanna officials have arranged an appraisal of the town’s shuttered recreation center ahead of a potential sale or lease.
In the early 1980s, when local coal mining was in full swing, growth by companies such as Arch Mineral Corporation fueled a major population boom in Hanna. To support the growing workforce and attract miners and their families to the area, the Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board used coal‑impact funding to build the 31,000‑square‑foot Hanna Recreation Center. The facility offered a large gymnasium, an Olympic‑style heated swimming pool, multiple saunas, racquetball courts, and a weight room, along with other amenities.
After the mining industry left in the early 2000s, the town’s population declined and recreation center use fell to less than 40 paid members. Keeping the facility open cost the town nearly $300,000 a year. A large portion of the money was provided by impact‑assistance funding from nearby wind‑energy projects. However, as that revenue began to run out, the town council voted to close the recreation center indefinitely on July 31st, 2024.
Since that time, the facility has sat vacant. Efforts to revive the recreation center, including a push to transfer control of the building to a nonprofit organization, have failed. Left with a deteriorating building it must still pay to maintain, the Hanna Town Council is now exploring the possibility of selling or renting out the former rec center.
In April, the governing body voted to have an appraisal done on the building. The pricing information is needed before the town can consider any alternative uses for the building, including a lease or sale.
During the July 14th Hanna Town Council meeting, Treasurer Ann Calvert said an appraiser had been found, and the assessment will take place in August.
Treasurer Calvert said the appraiser will need full access to the building and recommended ensuring it is open when the assessment takes place.
Mayor Charlie George said the appraisal will give the town what it needs to advertise the recreation center for sale or lease.
Last year, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality reviewed what options, if any, were available to redevelop the former Hanna Recreation Center. The state presented the Town Council with a 10‑page report outlining two possibilities: find someone willing to convert the building into a factory space or demolish it. At least one Council member supported demolition, but the estimated cost of more than $600,000 was far beyond the town’s budget.
The town’s best remaining option is to find someone willing to lease the building or buy it outright, taking the responsibility of maintaining the recreation center away from the town.
