ROCK SPRINGS – The fate of the Civic Center was not decided Tuesday night – the Rock Springs City Council opted to table the decision to the May 20 meeting.

If the Council fails to remove the resolution to close the center during that meeting, it will die. However, nothing would stop the resolution from being re-introduced after that point. Following confirmation of the vote that tabled the resolution, Mayor Max Mickelson told residents he needs a plan from them if they want to see the center remain open.

“Y’all got two weeks … get us a plan to have a plan,” Mickelson said. Mickelson also said the plan can’t be to sell the city’s golf course.

Mickelson said he has told residents wanting to keep the building open that if they come up with a nonprofit organization to keep the center open, he would recommend giving it to the group for a dime.

The three pressing issues needing to be addressed at the center are the replacement of the roof, mitigation of mold within the building, and replacement of the fire alarm system. Previously, there was a question of if the building could be mitigated with Abandoned Mine Lands funding to help address its issues, but Mickelson said the city received confirmation the maximum amount available for the building is $275,000. According to Mickelson, of the other grants the city could apply for, the largest would provide $30,000.

Mickelson said the funding issue isn’t just with the Civic Center, but other Parks and Recreation Department facilities, as well as other city buildings.

Residents supporting the center’s continued operation showed up in force to make their thoughts known before the vote. Jack Weimer told the Council that even if they vote to close the civic center, the city will still need to maintain the building by controlling the heat and humidity inside. He believes misinformation is circulating about the situation and asked for the decision to be tabled to allow time to find accurate data about the state of the center. He also mentioned a petition to save the center that had started circulating four days prior to the meeting received 840 signatures by the time the meeting took place.

“It can be saved, and I think we should do it,” he told the Council.

Others were more accusatory in their comments. Kenneth Bucho alleged the Council already made up their minds and questioned the reasons used to support closing the center. With mold in particular, Bucho believes it can be cleared up with Clorox and doesn’t need expensive mitigation to fix. He also questions why city employees can’t be utilized to do some of the work needed in the building. Bucho also thinks the city hasn’t been diligent in seeking funding for the building’s repairs.

“If you can find money to put concrete on Bitter Creek behind Albertsons, you can find money to put a roof on the Civic Center,” Bucho said.

Mickelson said the funding for Bitter Creek came from a one-time use fund and has spent the last two years talking to Gov. Mark Gordon and the staff at the state’s Abandoned Mine Lands office arguing for more funding to take care of Bitter Creek. Despite the fact the state has historically received so much funding from mineral deposits in and around Rock Springs, the state refuses to distribute the money back to the community.

“They have the money because of the work done by the residents of Sweetwater County, so they should dang well show up and fix the problems that work has created,” Mickelson said.

Stephen P. Allen, a former Council member, spoke on a more hopeful note, saying local industry is poised to expand and the city is set to benefit from the sales tax that expansion brings. Allen said if the Council budgets $500,000 to capital maintenance on the center, kills the resolution to shut it down and creates a taskforce to look into the center’s needs, a five-year plan could be developed to ensure the center can have its deferred maintenance addressed.

“Next year, we’ll have a five-year plan on how to fix the rest of it, and that’s the time we need for the taskforce to get all the data, to put it all together, and formalize a better plan,” Allen said. “This is not an overnight decision.”