The Taylor City Council exercised its vote Thursday and approved a study to determine the feasibility and uses for a proposed wellness and recreation center. An indoor recreation facility has been a topic of interest for years in Taylor. In 2010, the city went out for a bond election to construct a recreation center and it failed.
“Long before I’ve been here, indoor recreation and meeting space has been a need, and that need has just grown. We know that need will just grow as we grow,” said Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Bybee.
In 2022, St. David’s Foundation hosted a community meeting at the Dickey-Givens Multipurpose Center and invited wellness groups from across the county. One major take away from the meeting was the need for a large community space for residents to improve their physical and mental well-being.
“There’s not a space for those groups to meet, not a space for education, health education, a hub,” said Bybee.
The proposed wellness and recreation center is intended to be more than an indoor gym, according to discussions at council meetings. It should also provide space for wellness support, including preventive care, community engagement, promotion of healthy lifestyles and health education.
In April, the city hired Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture to oversee the project. BRS has partnered with several other firms specializing in design, operation, planning, site selection and cost estimating.
For the feasibility study, BRS will bring all of the consultants together to create a comprehensive report that evaluates potential sites and discusses concept options regarding facility size, features and amenities. It will include architectural diagrams and provide cost estimates with an operations analysis outlining attendance projections, fee schedules, staffing requirements, revenue sources and more.
The study will cost $183,835, and will come out of the city’s Samsung Quality of Life funds.
At Thursday’s meeting, City Council had the option to lower the price by $11,000 by choosing to engage the community through an online-only survey. Council opted instead for a survey that would be conducted both online and through mail, with a minimum of 400 participants, which BRS labels a scientifically-valid sampling for Taylor.
“One of the reasons I really like BRS is their community feedback and how they run them. They really get the community engaged,” said Bybee, who added that there are two town hall meetings planned to gather additional public input. “We really want to hear what the community wants. We don’t want to just look at trends, we want to know what folks at Taylor want.”
The parks director said he was planning to conduct a city-run online survey as well to add another component of public input to the planning.
Council also approved creation of a steering committee for the wellness center at Thursday’s meeting.
Mayor Dwayne Ariola suggested the committee consist of six members, with each of the five council members nominating one and the sixth member being from a large business.
Council member Gerald Anderson recommended Michele Glaze, director of public affairs for Samsung Austin Semiconductor, as the committee member from a business.
Council approved the nomination and agree to provide the remainder of their nominations by Aug. 1.
“It is my honor to accept a position on the oversight committee on behalf of Samsung for the potential Wellness/ Recreation Center,” Glaze said Friday in a statement to the Press. “A wellness/recreation center can be a vital component of creating more opportunities for a healthy and vibrant community.”
The committee will have up to five meetings, including an overnight stay in Dallas-Fort Worth to tour five or six area recreation centers.
“With this proposal we also do have a short tour to DFW,” said Bybee. “Every one of the centers the steering committee will visit will have a piece that will motivate them.”
The study is expected to begin in August and be complete in February, 2025.
“This is just a table of contents of what the community wants,” said Ariola. “We’re not doing funding, we don’t know how we’re going to fund the build. This is the very first step.”
“ There’s not a space for those groups to meet, not a space for education, health education, a hub,”
-Tyler Bybee, Taylor Parks and Recreation director
