PONDERAY — With a community launch last month, the Ponderay Aquatic Center officially kicked off plans to bring a new venue dedicated to community recreation to the area.

"The reason that we're all here is because all of us understand that we have an incredible town, an incredible group of people and we just need something more," Michael DiBenedetto, president of the nonprofit Ponderay Aquatic Center Endowment, told the 36 or more gathered at a June 18 launch. "What we're leaning toward is community."

The community launch event, held June 18, attracted roughly 50 people curious about the center, its proposed programs and what it could offer the community.

Key features include a community pool with 88-degree water, zero-depth entry, a lazy river and walking lanes. A competition pool would feature 80-degree water with diving boards, lap lanes, scuba and deep water rescue training.

It also would feature an NHL-size indoor rink and seasonal outdoor rink.

In addition, there would be meeting rooms for community and private use, an expansive field house for indoor sports and large-scale events, a community kitchen, locker rooms, showers and restrooms as well as a full workout and fitness area, indoor walking track and could serve as an emergency refuge during wildfires or other emergencies and disasters.

The vision calls for a facility that has a large community kitchen, bathrooms and showers, allowing for the site to be used not only for visiting teams but as an emergency shelter if area residents need to be evacuated due to wildfires and other emergencies, DiBenedetto said.

For some involved in the project, their participation began with a community pool; for others, it is an NHL-size indoor ice rink. Other aspects, such as community kitchen and indoor walking track, have been included as the Ponderay Aquatic Center gradually began to firm in scope.

While it might seem incongruous, pools and ice rinks are complementary because the heat generated to create the ice is a natural source to heat a pool and the center itself. Throughout the process, care has been taken to ensure the project is fiscally responsible to ensure the center pays for itself over the long term.

"We need to have a solid fiscal model. You can't just throw something up and not be prepared to build the cost of it," DiBenedetto told those gathered. "So you have things that are fairly inexpensive and don't bring much revenue, but you have things that are fairly high and have high revenue."

Ponderay officials have adopted a resolution supporting the concept of a pool facility in the city, noting that the Field of Dreams Recreation Center would be the ideal location for such a facility. As PACE moves forward with its fundraising efforts, Ponderay Planning Director KayLeigh Miller would provide assistance with the design efforts if it is determined that it will be located at the Field of Dreams.

"While the city has an overall conceptual plan for the Field of Dreams, we have been very careful to engineer only what we are building in each phase," Miller told the Daily Bee. "This allows us the flexibility to adjust the site layout and facilities at each phase of construction so we can maximize our space within the site and provide the most benefit to the community."

Ponderay officials said they could see the facility being a benefit to the community and its residents.

"A facility of this nature will bring additional four season recreation options for the community as a whole," Miller said. "This provides both mental and physical health benefits for our residents. Additionally, it would open up the opportunity for competition swimming events which bring visitors to the area supporting our local businesses."

While the city is open to the facility finding a home at the Field of Dreams, Miller said there is no partnership with PACE at this time. Future partnerships have not been decided.

If the Field of Dreams is determined to be the best spot for the aquatics center, Miller said the City Council would have the ability to discuss committing local option tax dollars to the project.

Both PACE and Ponderay officials said that no government funding or tax dollars would be used to fund the center. Instead, DiBenedetto said the effort is community driven and designed to be funded by donations and grants.

That means combining costs to build the facility with plans to launch an endowment fund with fundraising for both taking place in conjunction, and in collaboration, with each other.

By combining the different elements together, and adding in an endowment fund to help cover costs long-term, DiBenedetto said the project not only delivers much-needed recreation programs but becomes feasible.

Fundraising for the facility is being done privately, spearheaded by the nonprofit Ponderay Aquatic Center Endowment, the group leading the charge on the proposed community center.

Initially, the group hopes to raise $3 million to get the project off the ground. While the cost to build out all phases of the project could be substantial, just how much that will be will depend on what is ultimately folded into the center.

DiBenedetto said he hopes to raise those initial funds within three months, allowing him to hire an architectural firm to draft plans for the proposed center. It would take about a year after that point for the firm to draft architectural and engineering plans.

A local drive would be kicked off to both spread the word of the proposed center and begin both fundraising and grant writing.

"We're going to see if we can get some money from people of deeper pockets that we've got," DiBenedetto said.

Donors could opt to help fund the center's construction — which could cost an estimated $80 million to $100 million — or an endowment fund that aims to cover a large portion of its day-to-day operation. However, DiBenedetto said he was hesitant to dive too deeply into the costs, saying that too much was unknown in terms of what the facility would include, size of the center and other factors.

"There's still a lot of unknowns but what's going to be good is being proactive and start like it's a funnel ... the sooner that we can get down to the known quantity, the better you can actually believe in this too," DiBenedetto said.

According to a market analysis from Ballard King, a national consulting firm that specializes in recreation and sports centers, the community has more than 11,000 people in its immediate service area of Ponderay and Sandpoint. Roughly 62,000 people live within a 45-minute drive of the center's proposed location, a number that expands to almost 92,000 if that drive time is increased to an hour.

In its analysis, Ballard King officials noted a growing trend toward indoor walking areas and pools, both of which are minimal in the area. The nationally recognized firm, which conducted the feasibility study for Coeur d'Alene's Kroc Center, determined the community could use another four or five pools and three or four ice rinks.

The firm told PACE officials it could cost an estimated $1.6 million a year to operate the aquatics center.

The hope is to have the center up and running within three years, DiBenedetto told those gathered.