Snoqualmie City Councilmembers were presented with multiple design options for an expansion of the Snoqualmie Ridge YMCA Community Center last week as they are just beginning the search for funding to complete the long coveted project.

Jeff Hamlin, the city’s interim parks and public works director, presented the council with five preliminary options for expanding the center, all of which include adding some sort of new pool.

The most expensive proposal would cost $26.9 million, according to Hamlin’s presentation. At that level, the city can afford to build a six-lane swimming pool for competitions, plus a recreation pool and zero-entry area among other additions to the overall building and floor space.

The cheapest option, at $21.8 million, would also build a six-lane pool, but makes few other adjustments to the building and lacks space for other programming, like swim lessons or water aerobics, that help make a pool financially viable.

“This does not quite meet the YMCA’s financial model,” Hamlin said of the $21 million design. “This one is not going to generate revenues like the other pool configurations would or the other expanded facilities would and so it would likely lead to a renegotiation of our operating agreement.”

The city’s community center, managed by the YMCA, was opened in 2012 and has yet to receive an expansion despite a 30% growth in population over the last decade. The undersized center faces frequent overcrowding, but remains popular and is used by 40% of city residents, according to the city.

The designs presented to the council this week, Hamlin emphasized, are at a schematic level, and the costs associated with each design are generalized and subject to change. The presentation comes after the city council approved a nearly $1.9 million design-build contract in August to look at the possibility of funding a community center expansion.

Phase 1 of the contract will provide the city with designs and cost estimates for the expansion, including a guaranteed maximum price, which is expected by early 2024. Based on those results, the city council will decide how, or if, they will proceed to phase 2, which is construction.

The design phase of the project is ahead of the funding track, Hamlin told the council, noting they still have some decision to make about funding the project. The city is attempting to expand its community center without raising property taxes on its residents, and are relying on several partner organizations to help foot the bill.

“At all points in these discussions that I was involved in, the idea was that we would shoot for something that probably was out of the reach of just the city,” Councilmember James Mayhew said last week. “We’d do that intentionally. Because if we we’re going to build a pool, the thought was, by God build a pool that meets the needs.”

The city has earmarked $15.4 million worth of real estate excise and sales tax from its own budget toward the expansion. City staff also note there are $4 million worth of projects in its capital budget for some park improvements and equipment purchases that could be eliminated or delayed and redirected to the community center.

In total, the city estimates it has about $23 million available for the project. That includes a $1 million grant from King County and a $2.2 million contribution from the YMCA. Josh Sutton, a facilities executive with YMCA, said they had not committed to a specific amount yet, but noted the $2.2 million mark was their “target number.”

There’s also hope that the state Legislature and Snoqualmie Valley School District will contribute to the project.

While SVSD Superintendent Dan Schlotfeldt has stated support for the project, namely because of the opportunities a new pool could offer to Valley youth, the school district has yet to determine if they’ll back the project.

Alongside the city, the school district has also been approached by the Si View Parks District, which is looking to build a new pool of their own in North Bend. Si View’s current pool is over 80 years old and officials say it’s in need of a replacement.

To fund its replacement, Si View’s board of directors has put a measure on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. If approved, the levy would raise $21.3 million in property taxes to support the $30.3 million design and construction of a new aquatic facility.

Si View and the city have had competing proposals since 2019, when the Snoqualmie City Council rejected a Si View request to partner on a single project in favor of expanding their own community center.

School district board members have expressed support for a new pool for high school swim team members and other extracurriculars, but have not yet determined if they’d support either Snoqualmie or Si View’s project.