By Dennis Box-The Courier-Herald

A group of council members and Bonney Lake city officials took a trip to Gig Harbor April 5 and came back with high hopes for a YMCA in the area.

Councilwoman Laurie Carter said the Gig Harbor YMCA helped her see how the facility could fit into the Bonney Lake and Sumner area.

The doors to the YMCA in Gig Harbor opened in August.

“There were a lot of people there using it,” Carter said. “And it was being used by all ages. There was also an area for the community to use.”

Carter said the facility features two pools, a climbing wall and a multiuse gymnasium; on the second floor are classrooms and a running track.

A resolution for a feasibility study was on Tuesday's City Council workshop agenda. Triangle2, a consulting firm from White House, Tenn., would conduct the study if approved.

The firm would contact 800 households from the Bonney Lake and Sumner area. The study will consider locations for the facility and the need for a YMCA in the community.

The scope of the study will consider areas in Bonney Lake's Downtown area, Midtown (including the Washington State University Demonstration Forest) and Eastown, as well as areas in Sumner.

The Gig Harbor YMCA is set on about 11 acres and is 77,000 square feet in size.

The study will cost about $32,000 with Sumner paying 36 percent and Bonney Lake paying the balance.

Councilman Mark Hamilton said coming up with the funds for the complex will be the trick.

“The big problem is it cost about $20 million,” Hamilton said. “The community comes up with 70 percent and the YMCA picks up 30 percent and they run it. Operating it is the real cost, so if we can swing this it would be great.”

The funds would involve finding a business to partner with the city to pay for the site and building.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.

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