WOODLAND PARK – Most people here seem to agree that a recreation center with a swimming pool would be nice. They’d enjoy a gymnasium with a whirlpool, racquetball courts, weight room, fitness center, climbing wall, track and lockers.

But paying for those amenities is another question. In fact, it has divided this mountain town, off-and-on, for 15 years or more.

Jessica Friedle, 29, wishes she didn’t have to drive her four kids to Manitou Springs, the nearest public pool, when they want to swim.

“I grew up here,” Friedle said. “I’ve been wanting something up here for a long time. Our skate park is kind of pathetic. And our after-school activities, it’s all kind of pathetic. There’s not enough for the kids to do up here. I think Cripple Creek has more than we do.”

Others say now is not the time for a tax increase, especially not the sales tax as proposed by rec center supporters.

“People are struggling now,” said Claire Shaw, 51, owner of The Picket Fence gift and craft store. “It would hurt the people. Never mind the businesses.”

It’s a passionate debate. Almost as emotional as the one going on in Colorado Springs where pools and rec centers are being closed because the city can’t afford them.

Here, more than 1,100 people signed a petition demanding the Woodland Park City Council let voters decide whether to increase the sales tax by one percentage point to pay for a $14 million facility. Financing costs could drive the total price upward of $25 million, once bonds are repaid over 20 years.

It has neighbors on opposites sides. Business owners are divided. Even City Hall is split — the city manager favors the center while the City Council voted last July against putting the issue before voters.

Maybe now, after all these years, the issue finally will be settled.

Next week ballots will be mailed to the town’s 5,700 registered voters asking them the question. The votes will be counted April 6.

“A lot of people are fully supportive and see the value for the kids of the community, the seniors and who see what it could do for economic development,” said Neil Levy, owner of the Swiss Chalet and a leader of the petition drive along with former mayor Gary Crane. “This is something people from all over the county will use. This project offers so much more than a pool.”

And that is the problem for folks like John Schenk, a retired Air Force officer and former City Council member who is campaigning against the project.

A simple pool inside a modest building is one thing. But Levy’s group has proposed a beautiful structure with soaring glass walls facing Pikes Peak and lots of extras like the climbing wall and whirlpool.

“They have not designed a blockhouse structure,” Schenk said. “It’s fairly elaborate. It would be a Taj Mahal. Why not do something more basic? They have $1.2 million in bells and whistles that are non-essential to the facility.”

The artists renderings resemble a ski lodge with soaring roof lines, timber accents and walls of glass. And the proposed location is postcard perfect with a mountain backdrop and ice skating pond a few steps away. It’s walking distance from schools, a senior center and city hall.

“It’s all about the community,” said Levy, who often drives to the YMCA in downtown Colorado Springs for his racquet ball fix.

But that $14 million price tag stops a lot of people, even though Levy expects the total to drop by as much as 25 percent thanks to the depressed economy, which is driving down construction costs. Some don’t like the idea of government competing with existing fitness centers. And relying on a volatile sales tax rubs many the wrong way, especially since it applies to food sales in Woodland Park.

In 1996, voters rejected nearly 2-to-1 a proposal to raise property taxes for a public pool. Schenk supported a pool in ‘96 and still sees it as an asset. But he is opposed to the way Levy’s initiative would pay for the facility — increasing the town’s 3 percent sales tax to 4 percent — and holding the city liable if the facility doesn’t sell enough memberships.

Levy’s plan calls for the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region to operate the facility. If it doesn’t reach its goal of 4,000 memberships at an average of $80 a month for families and can’t pay its operating expenses, the city would be responsible.

“It’s not that people are anti-rec center,” Schenk said. “The people on the City Council are just trying to be prudent stewards of the public trust. The financial stakes are enormous for Woodland Park’s taxpayers, citizens and business community.”

The stakes are so steep the City Council refused last July to put the issue before voters. It really steamed Levy.

“I thought that was wrong,” Levy said.

So he and about a dozen others went to work, gathering signatures. Last month the petitions were certified as valid and the council agreed to let voters decide, despite opposition from Mayor Steve Randolph.

Talk to people on the street here and the divisions are obvious.

Doug Diamond, 45, an airline pilot and father of two kids, 8 and 13, would love the pool.

“I think the town definitely needs it,” Diamond said. But after signing the petition, he changed his mind over fears about a permanent sales tax increase.

Things will really heat up in the coming days.

Levy’s group is going door-to-door to get the vote out. They have printed bumper stickers and buttons. They are giving out day passes to the Ys in Colorado Springs so residents can see what they can expect. Supporters are hosting neighborhood parties to win support.

“It’s a tough decision,” Levy said. “There are clearly two sides.”

Neil Levy (File photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE)

Jerilee Bennett