EVANSTON — Uinta County School District No. 1 Superintendent Ryan Thomas and school board member Kay Fackrell touted potential economic benefits of a fieldhouse during the Sept. 23, meeting of Uinta County Economic Development Commission (UCEDC).

Thomas and Fackrell were there to provide information on the upcoming ballot proposition asking for passage of bonding for a fieldhouse and multi-purpose activity facility. The two men have been presenting this information at a variety of organizational meetings and to local city and county government officials.

Thomas was the first to speak and provided a background on the need for such a facility. He said three issues for the school district came from the feasibility study the school board had acquired. Those issues were: 1) the school has no facility for the indoor track team, which has more than 100 participants; 2) there is no regulation soccer field; and 3) there is no multi-purpose facility available for events. The inclement weather was also identified as an issue by inhibiting practice for the track team and the marching band.

The feasibility study looked at five potential sites and settled on the existing practice field behind the high school as the best possible location for the fieldhouse. The current design concept is for a 75,000-square-foot fieldhouse multi-purpose facility, a regulation soccer field adjacent to the fieldhouse, a turf field and possible enhancements to the current football field. 

The bond would be for $22,700,000, which is all the county-assessed valuation will allow. Thomas explained that $12 million will be for the fieldhouse; $4 million for the turf field, soccer field and enhancements to the football field; $681,000, which is 3% of the total project, will be reserves for maintenance for 15 years; and $6 million for the design, consultant and non-construction fees. The 20-year bond will cost the average homeowner approximately $10 per month for an annual tax increase of $120.00.

“We looked at the possible revenue benefits of an event being held here in the fieldhouse,” Thomas said. “A conservative estimate would be $30 to $50 per person and for a family of four, $100 to $120 for a one-day event. For an overnight event: $60 to $100 per person and for a family of four, a $400 benefit. The potential benefit for our community could be $300,000 a year for one event for each sport. We typically have 45 major events to benefit from,” Thomas said.

This multi-purpose facility would be available first for school events, then for Evanston Parks and Recreation events and then for community events. Thomas stressed the added benefit would be that it will be a separate facility so events could be taking place during school hours. Currently, auditoriums and band rooms are used for classes so that limits extra activities or events from finding an available space.

“We are the 10th or 11th largest school district in Wyoming and most of the other schools have an indoor track,” Fackrell said. “A benefit to doing this now, when I know people say this is a bad time, is that construction costs are lower now and there is an availability of contractors. Schools have to bond in order to build. Our students need this; the community needs this. We’ve needed this fieldhouse for a long time and I’m excited about it. I think having this fieldhouse will help our community a great deal.”

Evanston resident Eric Mander said he is in favor of the fieldhouse and asked Thomas and Fackrell if they had been to Utah to look at similar facilities to see what was possible to build. He also commented on a letter to the editor, in a recent issue of the Herald, from former Evanston City Clerk Amy Grenfell, who now lives in Cheyenne. She had written that the Laramie schools had gained $850,000 from a recent soccer tournament held there and encouraged Evanston residents to vote yes for the fieldhouse.

“We, (the school district) typically hold 28 to 30 events schoolwide every week,” Fackrell said.

Thomas added, “We won’t give up. We need this fieldhouse for our kids and their competitions. Our kids are at a disadvantage in competitions when they have no place to practice. We don’t want to hurt any other city or county project; we have always supported them. We also support the recreation center and hope to continue to be a good partner with them. We know that pools are a black hole for us and we would like to eventually partner with the Recreation Center towards getting an aquatic center. As far as the fieldhouse, it won’t be the Taj Mahal, but we want to build something to be proud of for the next 50 years.”

Chair Brent Hatch thanked Thomas and Fackrell and moved to the next item on the agenda, which was the economic development webpage.

Evanston Community Development Director Rocco O’Neill reported that he was in the process of refining the website and making alterations with the brand. He had a meeting scheduled with a marketing firm later in the week to see what can be done to get more hits on the website.

“Have you seen whether any of those companies mentioned in the target study have looked at your website?” Mander asked. “Brent, why don’t you have someone contact those companies to see what needs to be on the website that would accomplish what it was designed to do?”

O’Neill said he had reached out to them but hadn’t received anything.

Mander said the $60,000 market study isn’t doing what it was supposed to accomplish and taxpayers might resent that.

Board member Dan Wheeler defended the market study by stating that it takes time to find the right people. He also said some things work and some don’t, and they are working on it but maybe not on Mander’s timeline.