ROCK SPRINGS – The Rock Springs City Council voted to close the Civic Center Tuesday evening in an action that was met with cheers from residents in the audience.

The center will close July 1, 2027.

Councilman Rob Zotti proposed the amendment that would keep the building open to 2027. That amendment was approved by everyone except Councilwoman Jeannie Demas, who was absent from the meeting. Without that amendment, the resolution would have closed the center July 1 of this year. He said his amendment was based on the willingness of residents to publicly discuss the need for the center and consider ways of keeping it open. Zotti said the city’s historic preservation commission asked for two years to find funding to address problems with the building. A group headed by Stephen Allen, a former Councilman, sought a year to develop a five-year plan to keep the building operational.

Prior to the vote, Allen and several residents spoke in favor of keeping the center open because they had a plan to keep it open and because of the center’s significance to nearby neighborhoods and older residents.

“We have a plan,” Allen told the Council.

Allen asked the Council to consider killing the resolution specifying the 2024 closure and commit to not having a shutdown period as the city assesses what can be done with the building. He also asked the Council to consider appropriating $500,000 out of reserves and up to another $500,000 for building work as a five-year plan is developed. Allen said the main issues the building has, which involve its fire alarm system, roof and a mold problem, could be handled without closing the building down. He also told the Council the area’s revenue forecasts are looking better once sales tax and industrial siting funds related to trona mine development begin flowing into the city. He also said the city was only required to keep approximately $9 million of its approximately $13.5 million in funding reserves for city operations, leaving the remaining money reserves for operations.

Zotti pushed back at the use of industrial siting money on the Civic Center, saying the funds are meant to be used in addressing impacts related to large-scale industrial developments, though Allen said local governments can use the funds however they wish. Councilman Larry Hickerson addressed Allen’s comment on the city’s reserves, saying the city’s 2025 budget is balanced on the $4 million in reserves not encumbered for operations.

The Civic Center is the center of debate surrounding how the city will maintain facilities that have had their maintenance deferred. Zotti said the issue isn’t just with the Civic Center as multiple city facilities have problems related to deferred maintenance. The Council intends to have a structural engineer to provide a better cost estimate for the building, though Zotti notes the Council was “lambasted” by residents for fronting the money to hire the engineer. Zotti said he wants to know how much it would cost to renovate and maintain every city building.

“I want to find out what the true costs are,” Zotti said.

Those speaking included a trio of youths – Preston Simek, River Cole, and Sage Sell. The three said the Civic Center was important to them, with Simek saying it’s the only facility for kids on the older side of Rock Springs to go to, while Sell said she enjoys the rock-climbing wall and fears it would no longer be available to her if the center is closed.