The fate of Mary Siah Recreation Center is back under the microscope after Saturday’s marathon budget work session for the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly’s Finance Committee.
In a 6-3 vote, the committee approved a budget amendment that eliminates staff positions and takes other steps to shutter the facility in the upcoming fiscal year.
Finance committee member Tammie Wilson brought forward the amendment, which is estimated to generate net savings of $68,000 in the 2025 budget.
“We have three current pools – not counting the one up at the university – and, in my opinion, a lot of them are still underutilized,” she said.
The borough also operates the Wescott Memorial Pool in North Pole and the Hamme Pool at Lathrop High School.
But borough leaders have teeter-tottered on the future of Mary Siah and its pool in recent years as they juggled lifeguard shortages, community expectations and major capital costs.
And at Saturday’s meeting, the move to shutter Mary Siah drew some comparisons to the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Board of Education’s decision to close three elementary schools next school year amid declining enrollment.
Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins' proposed 2025 budget is in part balanced by a $9.5 million savings draw, and finance committee member Brett Rotermund was among those Saturday saying it’s time to seriously consider retiring the pool facility as the borough looks for its own levers to shrink expenses.
“We have an incredibly aged building that is gonna need even more major, major work over the years. These are just some of the tough decisions, things we have to be talking about,” he said.
Last time Mary Siah landed on the borough’s budget chopping block, in 2023, community members came out en force to advocate for the pool, citing its benefits for people with mobility issues, as well as seniors and young children.
Guttenberg, one of the three who voted against the budget amendment Saturday, summoned that history during the weekend work session.
“Because it is different than other pools,” he said. “I think we had that dialogue here where people said that two or three degree [Fahrenheit] difference in water is a huge difference for the seniors and the children that use it, for those facilities. So until we have a plan in place to replace it, I’m not gonna be supporting closing it.”
Members Wilson, Rotermund, Liz Reeves-Ramos, Barbara Haney, Mindy O’Neall and Nick Lajiness voted in favor of the amendment; members Guttenberg, Scott Crass and Kristan Kelly were opposed.
The finance committee’s vote doesn’t have an immediate effect on the rec center’s operations. The full borough budget is scheduled for public hearing on May 1, and the assembly is then set to reconvene to take action on the final budget on May 8.