ShowMe Aquatics Seeks Partnership With City on Community Center

The idea for a community center in St. Charles might not be dead.

ShowMe Aquatics and Fitness, a nonprofit organization that provides therapy for individuals with disabilities, has started talking with the city again about the possibility of partnering to build and run the center.

The city had an agreement with the nonprofit in 2008 to build an 120,000 square foot community center off of Veterans Memorial Parkway at the former Kmart location. ShowMe was to run the facility, while the city would build it. That agreement was dissolved in 2010 after ShowMe was unable to raise the promised funds. 

In March, the council briefly considered building a community center in , but ultimately decided they couldn't do it without a partner.

Jeff Campbell, President and CEO of ShowMe, met with several members of the St. Charles City Council on Tuesday in an effort to restart the discussion.

He presented a new proposed operating budget for the community center. The budget created by ShowMe in 2009 showed the community center would have a deficit of $500,000 in its first year of operation. The budget Campbell presented Tuesday showed a profit of $78,000.

"There were all kinds of things in there that weren't needed," he said of the first budget, which he did not create. "A lot of that was in salaries. Positions were in there that I don't believe in any system need to be there."

The new proposed budget assumes $1.7 million in membership fees, which would be set at $69 per month for a family and $49 per month for an individual.

ShowMe is proposing they keep much of the original design for the center as possible. The facility was to have a warm water therapy and aerobics pool, a lazy river, a slide, a fitness center, gymnasiums, a jogging track, meeting rooms, a teen room and a cafe.

About 5,000 square feet on the second floor would be leased to a third party who would run a rehabilitation facility.

Campbell said he doesn't know whether ShowMe would promise to pay additional money to help build the center. The first step would be for both ShowMe Aquatics and Fitness and the city to feel comfortable with the proposed budget. From there, they would need to get new estimates for building costs.

"If we can get to that level of confidence then maybe we can take another step into the process," said Sue Schaeffer, board member for ShowMe Aquatics and Fitness.

Director of Finance Kelly Vaughn said she'd like to see some comparisons with the membership dues and program fees collected by other area fitness centers.

"I know this type of item is more of a luxury item," she said. "I'd like to see whether these numbers are conservative going in."

Wants vs Needs

It's unclear whether the city can afford to pay for a community center as well about $15 million in other city projects. The list includes fixing the city parking garage, building a new street facility and a fire station. 

The city is approaching its bonding capacity and should be cautious with the number of project it takes on, said Vaughn. .

She said while it might be possible to accomplish all of the proposed projects, "How close do we want to get to the limit?"

Mayor Sally Faith said it behooves the city to evaluate the possibilities. However, she said the city streets facility needs to be completed as it's been on the list of projects for 10 years.

"The parking garage, it has to be repaired, no question about it," she said.

Sue Schaeffer, of ShowMe, said the city will have to make some decisions.

"The voters spoke pretty loudly a couple of years ago, at 72 percent approval (for the bonds to build the community center)," Sue Schaeffer said. "Hopefully the city and ShowMe can figure out how to do it all."