Exercise Facility May Fit Into Students’ Needs Hospital’s Valley Fitness Center Giving Budget A Rough Workout

The East Shoshone Hospital District’s plans to sell or lease its workout facility so far haven’t panned out.

But help may be on the way from the Wallace School District.

“The hospital wants to keep the facility open, but it’s been a drain on our resources for as long as we’ve had it,” said hospital board chairman Robin Stanley. “We can’t continue as we have been.”

Last week, at a school board meeting, Wallace School Superintendent Frank Bertino announced that the school district is looking at the possibility of taking over the fitness center as part of its school-to-work program.

On a good day, up to 80 users sign in at the Valley Fitness Center, manager Kyle Koski said. The hospital board has delayed the center’s closure because of its popularity.

The center could provide students with a chance to learn skills from marketing to bookkeeping, said Margie Gravley Todd, co-coordinator of school-to-work in the Silver Valley. Students interested in fitness could work alongside a trained professional to provide quality service at a lower cost.

Even before Bertino’s announcement, rumors were flying above the clank of Nautilus weights at the fitness center. Some center members wondered whether high school students would be responsible enough to provide the sort of service they were used to. Others were indignant on behalf of the handful of hospital district employees whose jobs appear to be in jeopardy.

But Stanley pointed out that the jobs will be lost anyway if the center closes.

And Todd said it’s too soon to say whether those jobs will completely vanish if the school district takes over.

“We’re brainstorming to explore every option we can think of. We’re doing a complete business analysis,” she said.

Perhaps the exercise equipment could be moved from its present location to the school or some other site to minimize the cost of utilities and rent, she suggested.

“Rent, utilities, labor - the membership doesn’t cover those costs. We’re trying to figure out how to make it affordable, yet still work well for students and members,” Todd said.

School-to-work involvement is far from guaranteed. Todd said she would try to complete the study and deliver a verdict by Wallace’s January school board meeting.

“We must be self-supporting, not drawing on tax dollars in any way, shape or form,” she said. “If it doesn’t prove feasible, we will not become involved.”