The Bayview Community Center has been loved.

Since the two-floor building was converted from a schoolhouse to a community center in the early 1990s, it has served as the sole venue for events in the shore-hugging town.

And don't doubt that small towns have plenty to do. The center has been the locale for blood drives, art shows, quilting club, Zumba and tai chi classes, movie nights, potlucks, barbecues, weddings, American Legion meetings, homeowner association meetings.

If something calls for at least a handful of people, it probably happens at the building on Perimeter Road.

"The Bayview Community Center is the only place in town groups can get together to do things," said Tom Lloyd, vice president of the Community Center Foundation board. "The consequence of that is pretty high impact."

If only the building was fit to accommodate the demand.

Suffering structural deficiencies, and overwhelmed by population growth, the building needs major renovations to continue as the hub for Bayview events, Lloyd said.

"The community center is a major part of the community that needs to be worked on," he said.

The foundation hopes an answer is in sight. That Kootenai County will apply for a $150,000 state grant on the foundation's behalf, to cover infrastructure improvements at the center.

The commissioners are holding a public hearing at 3 p.m. today over whether they will apply for the Idaho Community Development Block Grant for the foundation.

The hearing will be in the commissioners' chambers in the County Administration Building.

Without the grant, the foundation will be fundraising for a long time, Lloyd said.

"These things have to be done," he said of the improvements. "It's a matter of do we get it done this year, or in the next 12 to 15 years?"

Lloyd listed numerous needs the community center faces. Due to poor foundation construction, the basement floods after storms. Black mold has developed between the structure's Sheetrock and foundation wall.

The grant would fund a 540-square-foot addition to the front of the building, he said. It would also provide roofing over the building's two decks, and an expansion of the southern deck.

"It's one of the more worthwhile projects I've jumped into," Lloyd said.