The City of Soldotna is nearing the finish line on its new field house facility, which is scheduled to open its doors this summer. City council members last week decided how much people will pay to use and rent the Soldotna Field House.
The votes came after a work session with city parks and recreation staff, who presented some of their nuts-and-bolts proposals for the 42,000-square-foot field house. For example – how much people will pay to get into the building.
Adults using the field house will pay $5 per visit. A 10-visit punch card will run you $45, and a three-month membership costs $100. Kids, seniors, veterans and active duty military members are eligible for discounts.
“We definitely wanted to try and find a balance between affordable access and some cost recovery,” said Parks and Recreation Director Joel Todd.
Court rentals range from $21 to $106 per hour depending on what is being rented. There are separate hourly rates for the field house’s batting cages. And renting the whole field house will run you just over $2,500. Todd says his team arrived at the cost proposals after studying similar facilities in other parts of the state.
“We're not drastically lower than some of these other facilities, but we are a little lower,” Todd said. “So that way, we can grow these programs and give them a fighting chance.”
Another policy adopted Wednesday describes the priority the city will give different groups wanting to use the field house. Programs and events sponsored by the city, for example, get first dibs. That’s followed by large events, nonprofit organizations and for-profit organizations and commercial groups. Todd says in some cases, that means access will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Because we want this facility to be multi-use, that means we're not going to be able to serve every user group and every sport all the time, all year round,” he said.
The council also heard from Josselyn O’Connor, representing the Friends of the Soldotna Field House. The nonprofit will help with fundraising, through grants and community partnerships.
“The purpose of this, as you talk about fees, is really to make sure that the community has access to this so that if someone shows up and they don't have that $2 or $3 we can front them, right?” she said. “We've got seed money available, and we've got fundraising efforts kind of in the works already, so that this can be immediately used and everyone has access.”
Mayor Paul Whitney was one of many who celebrated the facility’s road to reality.
“It's truly a quality of life issue for the entire community, not just the city of Soldotna and its residents, but our entire community, which is quite large,” he said.
For now, Todd says they’re gearing up for their grand opening.
“That's kind of the spiel,” he said. “The most exciting part – August 16. We've been waiting 23 years for this.”
