The Kane County Commission finalized their 2022 budget with a restructuring on how Transient Room Taxes (TRT) are expended and prioritized. This will create the ability for Kane County to partner with cities and towns within the county to build responsible community projects that focus on improving the health, safety and welfare of the residents while continuing to promote tourism and mitigating tourism costs to Kane County. The restructuring is mirrored after how most counties in the state of Utah make decisions on how TRT funded projects are chosen.
A press release from the county states Mayor Houston approached Kane County with the idea of the city/county partnership to build a health and wellness center in Kanab. Kane County is excited to partner with Kanab City to build a scaled down version of the original recreation center project in a phased approach that will begin with construction of adequate gymnasium space for sports including basketball, volleyball, wrestling, pickleball and more, as well as some space for cardio and strength training. Future phases could include additional services such as an indoor swimming pool.
Youth recreation activities in Kanab are struggling to be successful because of a severe lack of facilities. The city/county partnership for this project will focus on solving this problem by building gym space that is adequate for practices, games and hosting tournaments.
The next steps for the project to continue is for the city council to formally approve the agreement and for the county and city to secure funding through sources, including using TRT funds and possible CIB bonds or loans. The proposed health and wellness center will be located at the corner of 100 East and 450 North next to the city library across from the city pool.
