The Homer City Council passed a resolution during their regular meeting on Monday, Oct. 13, selecting two city-owned properties as the preferred location for a future community recreation center.

Selecting a location became an important next step in the project development process as the council had previously set aside some funds for the development of a new rec center and is seeking to develop a budget, building plan and business plan for long-term operations and maintenance.

A multi-use community rec center has been included in the city’s Capital Improvements Plan since 2016, and listed as a top priority for the city since 2020, Resolution 25-088 states. Homer’s current main recreation site, the Homer Education and Recreation Center, is no longer a viable location to meet community demand for indoor recreation space. The HERC buildings also hold “significant challenges” with regard to their age and condition, as well as the timeline for clearing of that lot to make way for a new facility.

The city began actively pursuing future rec center locations in 2023 and had previously considered a number of properties as potential sites, including the two selected this week; property currently owned by Homer Electric Association at the corner of Snowbird Street, Grubstake Avenue and Lake Street; and a vacant lot behind the Homer Middle School athletic field. The Homer Middle School lot was previously dismissed as an option due to high projected development costs.

The council ultimately preferred the properties selected this week due to their location and the fact that they are already in city ownership, thus eliminating the need to purchase land on top of paying development costs.

The two city-owned properties — designated Tract 38A Homer FAA Site Subdivision and Nils O Svedlund Subdivision 2013 Replat Lot 7-A — are both located in the town center, behind Alice’s Champagne Palace, and can potentially be accessed from Pioneer Avenue, though other access points have also been discussed by city staff. According to the resolution, Tract 38A was previously identified as a viable location for a community center in a separate resolution passed in 2014. Together, the two properties would provide an “adequate footprint” for the desired multi-use community rec center.

Additionally, Resolution 25-088 states, developing the town center properties would “increase resiliency” for the city’s water distribution system by “allowing more looped water connections, creating more balanced pressures and flows, further expanding the customer base for both water and wastewater systems, which offsets the cost of owning and operating these utilities for all users.”

“I’m really excited about this,” council member Shelly Erickson, who co-sponsored Resolution 25-088 alongside Mayor Rachel Lord, said Monday. “There’s a lot of possibilities with these lots…. (It) allows for expansion, it gives us room for parking.

“I think that there’s way more in having that area becoming a community center … it’s a big place to dream, but to put that rec center in there will launch us into a place to get started. I’m very excited about the way that it’s coming together.”

Council member Donna Aderhold said that in the “best of all worlds,” she agreed with previous comments submitted by the public that the HERC site should be maintained as the preferred recreation location — but that the site held “too many complications right now.” She said that the town center properties were a “good location” for a future rec center and hoped it would “bring some vibrancy to that area.”

The town center properties were also reviewed by the Homer Planning Commission, Economic Development Advisory Commission, and Parks, Art, Recreation and Culture Advisory Commission earlier this year. According to the resolution, the selected properties have the “most potential” for growth and expansion, as well as for community involvement, recreation and catalyzing additional growth and development in the City of Homer.

The resolution by nature is not binding — instead, it acts as the council’s statement of intent to focus on the two city-owned lots as the future rec center site. Lord confirmed during Monday’s meeting that the council retains the right to change direction or pursue other avenues should they feel the need to do so.

The council also introduced an ordinance on Monday authorizing an expenditure of $10,000 from the city’s Multi-Purpose Community Recreation Fund to create a Multi-Purpose Community Fund Non-Endowed Field of Interest Fund through the Homer Foundation. Ordinance 25-63 will come back during the next regular meeting on Oct. 27 for a public hearing and second reading.

Find Resolution 25-088 and the Oct. 13 meeting recording in full at www.cityofhomer-ak.gov/citycouncil/city-council-regular-meeting-345.