FEBRUARY 14, 2025|
♥Photo♥ – Hanna Recreation Center – by Matt Copeland Bigfoot99
The shuttered recreation center in the town of Hanna continues to deteriorate following its closure last year.
During Tuesday’s Hanna town council meeting, Mayor Charlie George said that the roof of the recreation center is leaking. The mayor said, despite being closed, the unused building continues to require maintenance.
In the early 1980’s, when coal was king in Hanna, the mining companies built a large recreation center to attract workers and their families to the northern Carbon County town.
The Hanna Recreation Center offered a heated indoor pool, a weight room, a large gymnasium, and a racquetball court. When it was constructed, Hanna was home to over 3,000 residents.
As mining began to wind down in the early 2000’s, the town took ownership of the recreation center. The town took receipt of an endowment from the mining operation to pay for maintenance of the building, but Hanna officials at the time apparently spent all the money.
Now, with a population of less than 700 residents, only 30 annual memberships were sold last year. The governing body decided in August of last year to close the facility indefinitely rather than incur more debt.
Speaking at a candidate forum on August 14th, then-Mayor Jason Nordquist explained that the facility costs the town approximately $300,000 a year to operate. With so few members, Mayor Norquist said closing the rec center was inevitable.
The town hired Laramie-based Gary’s Plumbing and Heating to winterize the building.
Even before the facility was shuttered, the rec center had already begun to show signs of neglect. One month before the building closed, during the July 9th Hanna town council meeting, Town Clerk Vivian Gonzales reported that a recent inspection showed that the rec center had several issues, including a nonfunctional hot water heater, damage to the women’s locker room, and broken siding.
At this week’s Hanna town council meeting, Councilman Sam Sikes asked about the leak. Clerk Gonzales explained that the building has experienced several incidents of water damage throughout its life. None of them were large, she said. The most recent incident involved water leaking along nearly the entire length of the building.
The rec center roof was replaced in 2016. While the new roof was covered under a 10-year warranty, Mayor George explained that hail and winds over 55 miles an hour, not uncommon occurrences in Wyoming, voided the warranty.
The town itself must pay to have the roof repaired. The council did not decide on when, or if, the repairs will occur.
