City, YMCA talk community center

Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson and city staff are currently in negotiations with officials of the YMCA of Greater Seattle about the shape of a future Snoqualmie YMCA.

An agreement, likely for the YMCA to build and city to purchase a core center, could come before the Snoqualmie City Council in the next few months, Larson told the Valley Record.

"A strong majority of residents have voted for the community center in the last two elections," Larson said.

The city has more than $4 million in city funds and mitigation money to build the center, and construction could start as early as 2010. A first step would be to lay out a master plan for a full-size facility, including a gymnasium and pool, then build the project in phases. The first phase would include the core center. Other phases would bring in the gym and pool.

Two bonds to build the center failed at the polls in 2006 and 2008, the city may bring a bond back to voters as early as next year to build additional phases to the community center.

However, he stressed that the city is committed to building a core center, with or without voter approval.

"Bond or not, we're going to proceed," he said. "We're going to move forward and start building something."

The center remains slated for property at Snoqualmie Ridge Community Park, at Center Boulevard and Ridge Street.

The core center will likely be built with flexibility in mind.

"We know what is going to work for the majority of people," Larson said. "Everybody's going to get a little bit of something. That's we call it a community center."

Contact Snoqualmie Valley Record Editor Seth Truscott at editor@valleyrecord.com or 1-425-888-2311.

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