The City of Seward wants to turn the town’s shuttered middle school into a community recreation center. On Monday, the city council gave city officials permission to sign a five-year contract with the Kenai Peninsula Borough to take over utility and maintenance costs.
Seward Middle School is one of four schools Kenai Peninsula school board members closed earlier this year to save money. Starting next month, rising Seward sixth graders will stay at Seward Elementary, while seventh and eighth graders will go straight to Seward High. Since then communities around the borough have grappled with what the empty school buildings should become.
Russ White manages sports and recreation for the city. At a council work session in May, he told the council the proposal is a way to soften the blow of the school closing by bringing Seward’s youth programs under one roof.
“We'd actually make it into a positive by keeping it open and having a community center up there, and again the youth center having that as a centralized location, I know transportation is a huge issue, and that's right next to the schools,” he said. “Kids could walk there.”
The middle school building is largely turn-key for the city; it already has a gymnasium, an auditorium, an industrial kitchen, a band room and classrooms. White envisions moving parks and rec offices to the building, creating a childcare space and expanding outdoor activities.
City Manager Kat Sorensen says that model would give the department room to grow, while not fully committing to a new city building. Under the five-year lease agreement, Seward would lease the middle school from the borough.
“If it did ever need to become a middle school again it would be important for the borough to utilize that, which is also part of why we don't necessarily want to make long-term huge shifts that can't be undone,” she said.
Seward would pay one dollar per year to lease the building and pay for utilities and maintenance costs.
Through the end of 2026, the city could spend up to $150,000. That includes utility costs through the end of the calendar year and a one-time chunk of start-up money for things like compliance checks and a technology and security setup.
On a full year, utility costs are ballparked at around $250,000 per year.
Under the agreement, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is keeping space in the building for its Connections Homeschool Seward office. Instead of paying rent, they’re furnishing the building for the city. The city will pay for anything not provided by the district with its upfront allowance.
Initially, the city would have received more money – $150,000 – from the city general fund to help get the building up and running as a community center from a middle school. But council members scaled the amount back during the meeting by $83,000. The amendment came from member Lori Draper, who said she was concerned about approving such a large lump sum upfront.
“What I'm uncomfortable with is a blank check for $150,000 with no list, no amounts, not where it's going to go or why we're going to use it,” she said.
Sorensen says the request is for an “up to” amount because the city isn’t totally sure what it will inherit from the district when it moves into the building. The council unanimously voted to reduce the total amount of money it approved.
Multiple community members voiced their support for the rec center idea during the council’s May work session.
Lily Coyle is vice president of the nonprofit Seward Arts Council. She says her organization already has ideas for what it could do with a dedicated
“We could start hosting more classes, we could utilize the community spaces for different events,” she said. “So it really does – we as an organization have felt a pretty large need for finding a more stable space that we can do community arts programming in.”
Sarah Tougas is president of the Seward Tsunami Swim Club’s board of directors. She says club members are currently limited when trying to exercise at existing facilities before swimming.
“I do think that the move over there is a good move,” she said. “I've seen the city spend a lot of money on different things, and it would be nice to see them spend the money on this, and they can grow.”
If all goes according to plan, the city can move into the middle school building Sept. 1. The building would open for programming at a later, undetermined date.
The agreement must also be approved by the borough assembly. The city expects Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members to vote the agreement up or down next month.
