Fitness center backers
seek borough funds

By Ann Petersen

A group advocating for a community wellness center will ask the Haines Borough to donate the former primary school as center site and provide $250,000 to make the building usable.

The Well and Fit Community Center Board submitted a proposal this week to the borough to create a fitness and recreation center downtown. According to its published plan, a new community health center aims to bring the community “whole body wellness.”

The center board will present its proposal to the borough assembly at its regular meeting April 28. The group is seeking an assembly decision by June 9.

In addition to the donation of the old primary school building and renovation money, the group is requesting ongoing financial support from the borough to pay for utilities, estimated at $13,000, and to include the facility on the borough’s insurance.

Part of the $250,000 request includes up to $30,000 for exercise equipment.

Under the plan, the center board would fund operations through grants, fund-raisers, and donations. They’ll seek partnerships with other agencies including SEARHC, Lynn Canal Counseling and private medical providers. A partnership is already in place with the Chilkoot Indian Association.

User fees would also be collected.

According to board president Marnie Hartman, the wellness center would not be viable as a private fitness club, as the town’s too small to support such a business. Instead, the center is intended to be useful to “all members of the community, from toddlers to seniors,” said Hartman.

An unscientific, voluntary survey conducted by center advocates was completed by almost 400 Haines residents. Nearly all respondents said a fitness center would benefit the community, and 65 percent said the borough should help financially.

The survey described the wellness center as providing “a recreational gym space, weight and cardio room, group exercise room, (and) locker rooms with shower.”

Hartman said that although details of membership fees have not been worked out, the board is considering a model used by Skagway, where users can choose between one-time fees or monthly rates.

The Skagway center charges $5 for one-time use, $40 per month for individuals, and $80 per month for families. The municipality pays $220,000 annually to operate the facility, which brings in $80,000 per year in user fees.

To ensure all members of the community could use the center, the board is considering a sliding scale based on income, and seeking donors for scholarships and an endowment fund to help make the facility accessible to all.

Specific uses besides a fitness center mentioned by Hartman include an expansion of space available for high school sports such as wrestling, yoga classes, toddler time, and even mental health services. Hartman said that her vision for the center is to create a place where residents can “come for whole body health.”

            Borough assemblyman Steve Vick said he upports a borough recreation department and a wellness center but said any proposal to the assembly “would definitely face budget concerns.”