BROOKINGS — The city of Brookings plans to purchase the Fifth Street Gym from the Brookings School District and will reveal the sale price and operational costs associated with the deal at an upcoming City Council meeting.

The sale was announced in a news release Tuesday. The city plans to use the property at 606 Fifth St. as a “dedicated community recreation facility.”

“The acquisition and operational details are still being finalized,” said Paul Briseno, Brookings city manager. “Those will be shared publicly when they go to the City Council and the school board for action.”

Brookings County owns the parking lot adjacent to the gym and has an agreement with the school district allowing use of the lot by gym patrons. Next month, the county commission plans to take action on a similar parking lot use agreement with the city.

“The county commission is expected to take action on that in early April,” Briseno said. “The City Council and school board action will follow the county commission’s action on the parking lot.”

Details on the sale price of the gym are not yet public.

“The city cannot divulge the sale price and operational costs of the gym acquisition until the agreement is finalized, which will not happen until after the county commission takes action on the parking lot use agreement,” Sherry Fuller Bordewyk, city public information officer, said. “Once the gym sale specifics are finalized, the council and school board will reveal the associated dollar figures during upcoming meetings sometime in late April or May.”

Kristin Zimmerman, director of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, said those votes would then make the sale officially complete.

“Once the acquisition is final, the school district will have no further obligation for the Fifth Street Gym,” Zimmerman said.

The city’s news release said, “no new taxes or funding sources will be required,” and the city will fund improvements to the gym through the Park & Rec Department’s existing capital improvement plan and by prioritizing “maintenance of existing facilities while deferring some new park amenities.” Per an August article in The Register, the city estimated the Fifth Street Gym could require at least $2.6 million in improvements plus somewhere between $100,000 and $150,000 in annual operating costs. 

“It’s important for the public to know that the city has prioritized this facility and indoor space over new projects to align with the Parks and Recreation Master Plan of 2022,” Zimmerman said. “We’ll be able to share more specifics in the coming months.”

She said the city is willing to work with community groups that are interested in helping to financially support the gym through — for example — acquiring naming rights to the facility.

“If organizations, groups or individuals want to support the Parks, Recreation and Forestry initiatives, we would be happy to have that conversation with them,” Zimmerman said.

According to the news release, the city plans to continue using the gym for community leagues, camps, and activities — including pickleball, volleyball, basketball and futsal.

The school district spent $925,000 to build gym and operated it for 37 years. In November, the district declared the gym to be surplus property, listing it for sale through local Realtor Ryan Krogman with an asking price of $500,000. Public showings of the gym started Nov. 19, and in January the school board voted to extend the sale through April 1. At that time, Superintendent Summer Schultz told The Register the district had multiple offers to go through.

The next Brookings County Commission meeting is set for April 1. The Brookings City Council has meetings set for April 15 and April 22; however, Fuller Bordewyk said at this time, she does not know if the gym will be on the April 15 agenda. The Brookings School Board has a meeting scheduled for April 14 and a workshop scheduled for April 28.

Contact Jay Roe at jroe@brookingsregister.com or Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.