HEALTHIER CITY: Pocatello Recreation Center holds grand reopening after massive expansion

POCATELLO — The newly remodeled Pocatello Recreation Center is officially open to the public following a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.

An assembly of Pocatello and Chubbuck city council members, the Chamber Chiefs, Portneuf Health Trust staff, city employees and members of the community gathered at the freshly revamped facility.

Over 100 community residents met in the refurnished multi-purpose room where Portneuf Health Trust President and CEO Shaun Menchaca provided opening remarks and welcomed the guests in attendance.

“One of our primary goals or primary initiatives is the Healthy City USA initiative, trying to turn our community into a model of health and the country,” Menchaca said. “It’s an important component to us. What do other communities that are healthy in our region or our country look like? There are definitely places where people walk, they bike to work, they eat whole, healthy foods, and then they create great connections with each other.”

Menchaca continued, “So, get your kids and your husbands and your wives and your parents and your grandparents out doing those kinds of things and connecting with each other. It’s really important we support each other in the community to create that healthy vision.”

The Pocatello Community Recreation Center serves approximately 200,000 visitors annually, and until recently, had not received significant upgrades for decades. In 2023, the long-standing community fixture received a generous $1.25 million investment from the Portneuf Health Trust and a groundbreaking was held last December that kicked off the various updates and improvements that were to be completed at the recreation center.

Now, guests of the rec center can enjoy a new 3,300-square-foot weight room, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathrooms, a new multi-purpose room, lobby areas and redesigned office spaces along with new flooring, lighting, ceilings, paint, fixtures, hardware and electrical updates.

“We have new landscaping,” Anne Butler said, the Pocatello Parks and Recreation director. “We have new signage. You really notice us now. You see Healthy City USA. You see the Community Recreation Center. That’s huge. That’s commercial advertising, day in, day out. We have lots of new paint, lots of new trim. But bottom line, all this new enhances what we’re able to offer the community in this facility and it promotes community health and well-being, which is the factor that healthy City USA is here today for because that’s what we both do.”

Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad was also in attendance and expressed gratitude for area city officials and staff, the Portneuf Health Trust and everyone involved in the project that helped make its vision a reality.

Officials and other audience members then proceeded outside for the ribbon cutting ceremony, marking the official grand reopening of the rec center. Attendees were then invited to tour the facility at their leisure and enjoy a large compliment of refreshments.

The Pocatello Community Recreation center is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information on the rec center you can visit its website, pocatello.gov/297/Community-Recreation-Center .