The Strategic Alternatives Ad Hoc Committee created by the board of Recreation Centers of Sun City Inc. once again discussed possible renovations to the Mountain View Recreation Center at a meeting on Friday.

The committee decided at the end of the meeting to delay taking a vote on any recommendations to the RCSC board of directors.

The committee was formed as the result of a motion made at an RCSC board meeting in April that suspended “all work on the (Mountain) View project option 2 and building pickleball courts at Lakeview” until a committee could be formed to address strategic issues and alternatives, as stated on the RCSC website.

The initial cost of renovations at Mountain View were $41.7 million, but community concerns about what would be in the renovation eventually led to a halt on any progress on the renovations and the formation of the committee to look at what was needed.

The board hired Phoenix architect Marlene Imirzian of Imirzian & Associates Architects to develop preliminary site-use plans for both the Mountain View and Lakeview recreation centers.

Imirzian presented the plans to the committee at the meeting. The bulk of the discussion focused on the Mountain View site plan, which contains an inventory of the existing facilities at the recreation center and some suggestions on possible renovations.

At the end of the meeting, committee members said they wanted time to consider whether they should delay a vote on site plan recommendations to the board until the architect could provide some general cost estimates, which would better inform their decision.

“I confirmed that while the architect did request a decision/response, the committee has not yet made their final decision,” said RCSC communications and marketing manager Beth Lucas on Tuesday.

During the presentation, Imirzian said she wanted to know if the committee had changed its mind about any of the items in the plan.

“This is a zoning study — not a design,” she said, referring to the fact that the plan can change.

The following is a list of the Mountain View Center facilities in the plan:

• Outdoor Spa
• Horseshoes/Cornhole Area
• Mini Golf (Retain)
• Lawn Bowling (Retain)
• Fitness Center
• Pickleball - 12 courts minimum, 14 preferred
• Swimming - Resort / Aqua Fitness Pool
• Lap / Sport
• Pool Tennis (2 courts)

Imirzian said the outdoor spa is not an issue, and the current plan is to remove the indoor spa. The horseshoes will remain because someone at the meeting pointed out a group meets at the horseshoe area.

She said no one objects to mini golf or lawn bowling and the plan is to retain both. A redo of the fitness center is currently what is on the plan.

Several residents debated whether to increase the number of pickleball courts. Some wanted 25 and others wanted “as many as can be accommodated.”

One resident said the PebbleCreek Tuscany Sports & Aquatics Complex in Goodyear has 36 pickleball courts and Sun City is four times the size of PebbleCreek.

The architect said the plan is to retain the swimming pool and the two tennis courts.

Someone at the meeting said residents want a perimeter security fence because they say nonresidents are using the facilities. They want pedestrians to access the center through a check-in point.

“This is a very big requirement,” Imirzian said.

Another resident asked why there aren’t any cost estimates.

“I do not have any budget,” Imirzian said. “(This plan) is not final. It is a good overall potential direction for what could happen at each site.”

She said she recommends a survey of at least the Mountain View center and those who use it.

“A survey is not a big investment, but it is an important investment,” she said.

The building’s existing condition needs to be “evaluated” before any decisions on their use can be made, Imirzian said.
Residents debated whether a site survey identifying the property lines had been done. The architect said she doesn’t have the survey and asked them to send it to her, if one exists.

The current plan also calls for the Mountain View center auditorium to be renovated.

Some residents said the acoustics at the auditorium could not be renovated.

“Acoustics can be done — they just were not done,” the architect said.

Residents also discussed whether they needed to delay a vote on the plan recommendations to send to the board until the architect could develop general cost numbers.
One resident said he wanted to see estimates on redoing the theater at Mountain View, the cost of replacing the theater at Mountain View and the cost of a redo of the Lakeview theater.

The architect’s site plan presentation for Mountain View is on the Strategic Alternatives Ad Hoc Committee (SAC) web page at https://suncityaz.org/rcsc/strategic-alternatives-ad-hoc-committee-sac/.

The architect also created a site plan for the Lakeview Recreation Center, which was briefly presented.

Kathleen Stinson can be reached at kstinson@iniusa.org.