Henry Smorynski, Sartell
Thank you for the editorial. As you have correctly stated the council needs to deliver on long-established community input and needs before considering an extensive multi-sports facility. The city has invested in responses to team and club sports over the years. The newly approved half-cent sales tax should be focused on delivering a high-quality and whole-community responsive center. The emphasis on gyms or walking tracks is good but they need to be focused on exercise and play rather than athletic or team practices and development. It’s imperative with more than 5,000 users of Great River Regional Library, the city council makes a community library a reality whether that location is in a community center or elsewhere that is easily accessible to seniors, young children and families alike. The need for rooms and spaces in the center articulated by the Sartell Senior Connection should be a very high priority in the design, development and delivery of the center in 2016. The center should also have additional meeting and engaging space for all kinds of community organizations and even meetings of teachers in the area for professional development. Whatever sports facility is built within the center needs to be focused on serving seniors, children and families looking for recreational and play activities not related to any form of organized sports teams whether school related or community based.
