Recreation complex will see some upgrades
Published 4:30 am Thursday, January 22, 2026
While the City of Homer continues to work toward construction of a new recreation facility, the current one — the Homer Education and Recreation Complex — still sees regular use. Between that and the larger HERC building’s age and condition, some renovation has come due.
The Homer City Council approved an ordinance at their last regular meeting on Jan. 12 to appropriate $7,000 from the HERC Capital Asset Repair and Maintenance Allowance, or CARMA, to replace the floor of the activity room in the HERC 1 building. Ordinance 25-70 states that the floor needed to be removed as part of lead-based paint abatement due to the potential for contamination from lead-based paint chips and lead dust.
According to a Nov. 12 memorandum from Public Works Director Daniel Kort to the council, the HERC 1 activity room is used for numerous community classes including youth and adult karate, youth ballet, adult and youth fitness, drop-in yoga, drop-in tai chi, Homer Flex and homeschool fitness classes, Pilates, theater classes, meditation, youth and adult Zumba, partner dance, and as a flexible classroom space for instructional classes if needed. Due to the needed work, the activity room is currently closed for use.
Kort wrote in the memo that, upon approval of funding by the council on Jan. 12, the Public Works Department estimated the HERC 1 activity room may be available for use again in either late February or late April, depending on whether new flooring is available or must be special ordered.
The city council also introduced two new ordinances last Monday relating to repairs to the HERC 1 gymnasium floor.
Ordinance 26-03 would appropriate $25,000 from the HERC CARMA fund to repair, resurface and repaint the lines on the gym floor. Ordinance 26-04 will accept and appropriate a $7,000 donation from the Homer Pickleball Club for the same project.
According to Ordinance 26-03, the gym sees usage of an average 50 hours a week and attracts over 2,300 visits per month. The last time the floor was refinished was in 1998.
The city’s Community Recreation Division estimates the gymnasium repairs — which will include a complete floor sanding, removing 17 metal floor plates and replacing them with wood, and repainting the game lines and doing a double coat refinishing — will cost $38,000 in total. The council also last year appropriated $7,200 in the fiscal year 2026 capital budget to complete double coat finishing of the floor.
Both ordinances will undergo a public hearing and second reading at the next council meeting on Monday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. in the Homer City Hall Cowles Council Chambers and via Zoom.
