Fitness-center district is in much better shape
Changes give Kearns facility a healthy outlook

KEARNS -- What a difference a year can make: A little over a year ago, turmoil and bitter controversy were dogging Salt Lake Regional Service Area No. 1.

The district, which operates the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center in Kearns, was under fire from many of its own patrons.Scathing state and independent audits had lambasted executive director David Howick and district trustees for fiscal mismanagement, poor internal controls and inadequate oversight.

Financial records were in a hopeless tangle, district audits were long overdue, records were in disarray and the district was expected to run out of operating money by mid-summer despite a property tax increase.

Agitated patrons apparently agreed it was time for a change and in November 1997 elected two new district trustees. A third board member resigned and was replaced by a third trustee, assuring the district would have all-new leadership heading into the 1998 calendar year.

That was then, board member Tony Bueno says. He'd like folks to take a fresh look at the district.

The "now," he says, is a $10.7 million addition finished and in operation, an increase of more than 10,000 new members, a major reorganization that included a new general manager, and some light at the end of the financial tunnel.

Positive feedback

"In one year, we've gone from an embattled organization to one that is leading the way in recreation in Utah," said Bueno. "And we're getting very, very positive feedback" from patrons of the fitness center.

Patrons like Tami Martin of Kearns, who mostly comes to the center for water aerobics.

"I love the changes," she said. "The price is a little high, especially in the summer, but other than that I think the center is great. They really work you (in the water aerobics classes), and you get great results."

Daniel Denis, an 18-year-old exchange student from Brazil, said local residents probably don't realize what they've got at Oquirrh Park and how little it costs.

There are recreation centers in Brazil, he said while working out in the exercise room, but they usually don't contain both swimming and gymnasium facilities under the same roof.

"You have to go to different buildings and pay to get into each one," Denis said. "I like this place. It's better . . . and it's cheaper than in Brazil."

Instead of paying $100 a month to use a pool plus $50 to use a gym in Brazil, he said, it only costs him about $55 a year for a student membership at Oquirrh Park.