‘When will Eagle Mountain have a Rec Center?’ is one of the most often asked questions to the City.
Background
Unlike other cities in Utah County, Eagle Mountain is a relatively new city in respects to its history. Although it was along the Pony Express trail in the 1860’s, Eagle Mountain was only incorporated in 1996 with a population of 250 and later became city in 2001. Since then, the city has boomed with population increase and new developments. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 43,623 and it is projected to be one of the largest cities in Utah County. This population increase has outpaced the development of commercial real estate and has produced a population which has a significant percent of its residents under the age of 18 years old.
City’s Response to Why they have not built a Rec Center
From the City’s Rumor Stop, the Eagle Mountain City has addressed multiple questions regarding a Rec Center. When asked when it will build a Rec Center, the City responded with the following:
“One of the most frequent requests that comes to the city is for a recreation center or specific recreation facilities that are typically found in a recreation center. Currently there is no firm timeline for the construction of a recreation center. recreation centers are very costly facilities and in general are not fiscally self-sufficient. However, Eagle Mountain City staff are working to identify funding strategies that will allow us to build a quality recreation center of sufficient size and with desired amenities for a rapidly growing city while trying to avoid incurring significant debt. This may require constructing recreation center components separately in a modular fashion or other Innovative Approaches. Eagle Mountain City elected officials and staff know well the value of recreation centers can provide and also recognize resident’s desire for their local government to manage their tax dollars wisely. We will continue to work hard to find an acceptable solution, even if this requires some Trail Blazing.”
More recently, someone asked about having seen a rumor about Rec Center being built in 2024. The City replied with the following response, repeating some of the same wording as above:
“This post was the result of an April Fool’s joke. Eagle Mountain City can confirm no such plans are in the works. Currently there is no firm timeline for the construction of a recreation center. Recreation centers are very costly facilities and in general are not fiscally self-sufficient. However, Eagle Mountain City staff are working to identify funding strategies that will allow us to build a quality recreation center of sufficient size and with desired amenities for a rapidly growing city while trying to avoid insuring significant debt.”
Interested in learning more about Eagle Mountain’s responses to other Questions or Rumors?
Innovative Approaches and Trailblazing by Texturs
While not a physical rec center, Texturs has attempted to overcome the lack of a central facility for recreation and provide residents with some of the benefits of a centralized digital space for the community to gain value from. Texturs is a multi-vendor marketplace for Eagle Mountain Residents to find and use Rec Opportunities in and around the community, as well as find and use Community Spaces for the creation of Rec Opportunities or other Business uses. While we as a city have had to adapt to our unique history and lack of a physical rec center, many grass roots opportunities for recreation and space-use exist and many Home-based Businesses provide services to residents such as community classes. However, often these are harder to find because of them being in separate locations, thus needing more effort to search out. Therefore, by creating a centralized curation in the form of a marketplace for these opportunities around the City, residents can browse and discover these Interwoven Community Spaces that weave together the Recreation and Spaces available into one “Center.”
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