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Bountiful RDA looks at funding for new gym
by Tom Busselberg
Feb 04, 2010 | 1143 views | 0 0 comments | 8 8 recommendations | email to a friend | print
KAYSVILLE —A funding request to aid in construction of a new fitness center is due to be aired by the Bountiful City Redevelopment Agency, again, next Tuesday. The board, which is made up of the city council, is due to meet at 6:45 p.m., prior to the regular city council meeting, at city hall.

City Planner Aric Jensen, who also advises the RDA, said a decision could be made on a request to provide funding support for the high-end gym, Skills Fitness, which is proposed to be built on the ground floor of the Village on Main near Page’s Lane, here.

As with other RDAМ projects, funds would be loaned over a certain number of years, to be paid back through related taxes generated from the project. The RDA has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds for improvements at The Square and at the Renaissance Towne Centre, for example.

Three of five principles with the Village on Main are involved in the fitness facility proposal, which would put up $4 million from the value of the apartment community as collateral, Jensen said. Funds from a common area maintenance fee would go toward repayment, with the city also projected to receive upward of $10,000 a year in sales taxes collected on any membership fees.

Project backers plan for a maximum of 5,000 people to sign up, but told city officials they could break even if 2,000 members joined. The high-end facility would differ from other area gyms, and could draw members from as far as south Farmington to West Bountiful and beyond.

RDA board members Fred Moss and Scott Myers expressed concern about the viability of such a facility in the long-term to meet collateral needs to repay a loan, Jensen said. They were also concerned if the gym would siphon off members from existing facilities, possibly creating financial problems for them, or bring in new members, not affiliated with other facilities.

He said the RDA has "in excess of $1 million" inМ available funds, adding that "even if we repaid the South Davis Recreation Center and (RTC) parking garage, all obligations, we would still be in the black."

The manager of the old Excel Fitness, before it was bought out by Gold’s, would operate the new facility, Jensen said.

"There was a lot of discussion about what kind of retail would come in, with there being no anchor" currently, he said. ""This fitness facility could serve as the anchor. It could bring in other, related businesses such as a running store."

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