TOWNSEND — During the summer, folks in Townsend can head down to Heritage Park and soak up the sun and take a dip in the community pool. But what about when it’s snowing and the temperature is in the single digits? Well, the Broadwater County Development Corporation is looking at creating a Townsend Community Center that everyone can utilize year-round.
“FWP said it the best with one of their project proposals is: kids don't float. You know, and it's an essential skill,” says Board Member with Broadwater County Development Corporation, Adam Six.
The Broadwater County Development Corporation teamed up with the Montana Economic Developers Association to survey Broadwater County.
From that community review, committees were formed to tackle the most pressing issues to the community. Those committees include housing, child care, aging gracefully, multi-use community center, trails, and broadband.
While Townsend has a pool, it’s outdoors and only accessible for a handful of weeks out of the year. The majority of the time it’s drained and deserted.
Six says that a multi-use community center could offer the folks of Broadwater County an indoor pool as well as indoor access to sports such as basketball or pickleball. All of this does depend on funding.
Primarily, Six says that this indoor pool is necessary for the community’s children. Six cited an issue that came up when the pool closed down temporarily.
“There was a bottleneck of children ages 3-6 or 7 that didn't learn to swim, that didn't. So, we kind of had this big bottleneck and it was just, kind of, things ebbs and flow sometimes, and where we didn't have the facility for a few years and then we had it again, we learned how valuable it was and how nice it is to have, especially for a community in this size range,” says Six.
Six says that having an indoor aquatic center will not only allow young kids to learn the important skill of swimming but also provide a space for the elderly to recreate while alleviating the pressure of gravity.
“You can take weight off joints through water. People can move easier. People can function better and be healthier,” says Six.
While this community center is a long way off from coming to fruition, the committee is looking for community feedback. If you’re interested in providing your input, you can follow this link.
