Provo art trumps sport
Mayor stalls rec center until completion of hall
Billings placed the arts ahead of the athletes who want a new city recreation center because the city is still $1.5 million short of the money it needs to pay for the new performing arts center under construction at 425 W. Center.
The mayor wants to channel all energy in Provo's parks and recreation department to completing fund raising and construction for the $8 million project, which he and some other city leaders see as a critical part of downtown revitalization.
Billings instructed city staffers not to discuss a recreation center with citizens because it would distract the staff and waste valuable office time he wants focused on the performing arts center.
"I am probably one of the biggest proponents of a recreation center, but our policy has been very clear," Billings said. "We're going to get the performing arts center done before we move on to a recreation center."
That policy has hamstrung athletes who have waited impatiently for action since 1999, when a city committee identified a new recreation center as a top priority. Soon after, a survey found 91 percent of Provo residents agreed a new recreation center should be a city priority.
But Billings has refused to spend the money: "I look forward to spending it when it makes sense."
Now makes the most sense, Provo resident Michael Bateman told Billings and the City Council during a presentation last month.
First, a feasibility study would take six to nine months. Bateman and others want the study launched soon, so it is ready when the performing arts center is complete next June. But Billings won't budge because he said the study would require staff time.
Another reason to consider the issue now is Provo's annual subsidy of its aging recreation center, the Eldred Senior Center and The Center, formerly known as the Teen Center.
Provo spent $650,000 last year to subsidize the three buildings. The subsidy will increase to $700,000 this year and balloon to $1.1 million a year by 2016.
Bateman suggested taking that money and applying it to financing for a new community recreation center to house all three services. That could provide two-thirds to three-quarters of the cost of an $18 million facility.
The new center would include multi-use areas to support basketball, racquetball, volleyball, gymnastics, aerobics, dance and other sports or activities like weight-lifting and a climbing wall.
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