Letter to the Editor
Dome needed
Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!April 25, 2008
To the editor:
This community needs synthetic turf fields and an indoor turf field facility like no other community in our great state, yet not a single public administration (University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, FNSB School District, Legislature) has seen fit to make it happen. No private investor has stepped forward either. The Anchorage area, which is far milder climatically, has several outdoor full-sized turf fields (with more planned). They have two indoor turf facilities and a full-sized indoor dome that houses an indoor track and several full-sized soccer, football, and softball fields.
Barrow, with less than a tenth of our population, has a full-sized synthetic turf field! Other communities in Southeast Alaska have, or are building, such facilities. As I sit watching out the window at the snow flakes falling on April 26, my mind wanders to our lack of community willpower, vision, and political fortitude present to get this done. The simple fact is that the Fairbanks-North Pole area needs such facilities that allow adults and youth to enjoy sports for more than three months each year. The quality of life here would greatly improve.
The area could attract more state tournaments, conferences, and conventions. We could more easily recruit skilled professionals to our local work force. A dome or other indoor facility would be used year-round by football, soccer, track and field, softball, baseball, rugby, and many other constituencies and enthusiasts. Day cares and other organizations could use indoor facilities throughout the day. The Anchorage high school sports programs and UAA programs will show more and more superiority to UAF and to local schools’ sports teams if we continue to ignore this need and sit on our hands.
When will our state legislators, local governments, local institutions and private companies come together and find a way to get this done? Let’s start by getting an outdoor turf field built somewhere this summer and let’s get a dome like Anchorage built within the next three years! Our community needs this far more than millions of dollars worth of new roads. Which politician or administrator will stand up and get this done?
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
I wonder how much it would cost to heat an inflated dome. the surface area is enormous, insulation can't be good, and anchorage has significantly cheaper heat.
And why is it government's responsibility to build it?
Nice thought and I would love more for my children to do in the winter months....but I doubt it is fiscally possible. Building it might cost a lot but could probably be done with some good donations (not the states responsibility). It would be maintaining it, and heating it at -40 – -50 that would probably not be feasible.
I have a little experience with these matters, having sprayed over 2million pounds of urethane foam myself. I've sprayed it on and in everything you could think of, from cement-mixers for arctic pours, to big fish-processor ships.
A large inflatable dome is very possible, and easier to heat at -50F than you might think.
Consider Aerogel Insulation, there's a way to cheaply mass produce aerogel-pellets that can be blown into the walls of an inflatable dome.
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&...
A large inflatable dome roof can be imported from China for a very reasonable price, and it can be airfreighted direct to Anchorage.
http://www.inflatable-tents.com.cn/image...
If we build the dome in Pleasant Valley then we can pipe down some excess geothermal heat from the hot-springs through aerogel insulated thermoplastic PE100-pipe...
http://www.soluforce.net/
...I have a little experience making insulated pipe too, having built more than a few miles of the stuff that's already been in use in Alaska for the past 20years.
Please change the title to Dome WANTED. Food, heat and shelter are needs, this is clearly a want. Once we address the NEED for affordable energy and reduce property taxes so people can pay for the food they NEED we can look at your wants.
Teach your kids to ski and ice skate in the winter, and play football, soccer, or baseball in the summer. Don't forget there's plenty of swimming available, already paid for courtesy of the proptery owners.
Ice skate? Have you seen the waiting lists and competition for ice in this town? And......the cost of ice rental? Please. Summer season sports have been reduced to a couple of months at best. Perhaps the cost of juvenile detention centers is less than positive, accesible activities for youth.....or even better.....maybe local employers will become eager to higher youth to help them defray their expenses and keep them off the streets. Probably not, since kids do appear to any longer be our collective responsibility. Anchorage has not had many problems approaching private industry to help them get the facilities they "want" for their youth, perhaps someone here could take a hint from them and investigate the resources available.
I have been saying the same thing! There should be an indoor facility of some sort for "Spring sports". How many postponed events have we seen recently due to weather?? We cannot control the weather sadly. Would be nice if some big company or two in town would step up and 'donate' back to the community. Alyeska/Flint Hills Sports Center???
I do agree with starman about getting kids involved with seasonal activities...but what about the high schools and comp teams out there? Some of these kids are counting on their sport to pay for college. Think of how much better they could get if they had an adequate space during the snow/ice/break-up. What about flag football teams for adults to help pass winter?
I really don't care what other communities have, I care about what we don't have for OUR youth.
"We can not control the weather sadly." Why did you move here if you don't like it? What is "sad" about not being able to control the weather? If you WANT the same sort of AMENITIES that they have somewhere else - MOVE THERE. When Fairbanks can solve the issues of property taxes, essential service budget shortfalls, taking care of the mentally ill and homeless and disabled properly, and all the other NEEDS in this community only THEN can we start to look at spending money on what weenies WANT.
One day you hear whining about how much money the university and the school district want, usually for silly things like teaching and keeping safe roofs over students' heads. The next day there's whining that they don't provide a recreational facility for the community. Ditto with the borough and the state -- they tax too much, but yet they're supposed to fund something like this? Makes no sense to me. I guess it just proves that someone will ALWAYS find something to whine about.
I remember when Sear's was "The Center", that was perfect! We could roller skate, watch movies or bowl all in 1 place.
I always wondered why it didn't stay open. It was always busy, and I don't recall any major problems.
But, in this day and age (I don't think Fairbanks was quite as bad when I was a teen) I imagine the "gangsters" would screw it up.
As for the people that say there isn't anything to do in this area. My children have found that their youth group at church is very fun & rewarding. Not to mention, I have seen a lot of wonderful changes in their personalities!
Something needs to change in this town - maybe that is a good place for it to start.
We NEED this?!? Oh how have we survived for so long without it? Yea, it would be nice to be able to kick the ball around on turf in January, but I think need is a bit strong. What we NEED is an indoor cat park, where we can take our cats to socialize without worrying about the songbird population. Maybe if we put a giant litter box in one of the end zones...
I remember when we voted to construct the Carlson Center way back when. We were told it would pay for itself with self generated revenues if only we would pay for construction. Guess what?
I am dismayed by the amount of dissension and the number of poor attitudes on this board. I hope that individuals reading the postings won't conclude that this town is filled with nothing but nay-sayers and nit-pickers.
The fact of the matter is Fairbanks NEEDS this project. The opportunities for winter and poor weather recreation do exist. However, despite the wishes of many on this board not every person can or is willing to do these activities. Are they lesser people? NO. In addition, so many young, talented kids are unable to develop their skills and reach higher levels of their sport because of inadequate facilities. Pay attention to Anchorage track and field, soccer, and football over the next couple seasons. I predict Fairbanks will cease to be competitive in these areas. Efforts to become competitive in a short amount of time (the first part of the season) will cause injury and further harm to local programs. I appreciate the efforts of the letter writer to bring this issue out of the woodwork and into the general population.
I see no strong reason for government involvment with such a project.
I see strong reason for government involvment with such a project.
Actually domes are smart ways to build and not just arenas. Domes are easier to heat and withstand more than conventional building. It doesn't have to be an inflatable.
Domes can be used as greenhouses in order for us to grow more vegetables and for longer times than we can now. Domes as housing are more economical and more energy efficient. Dome homes have withstood tornados, fires, hurricanes and other natural disasters more than conventional building.
The only problem with the domes is getting financing because they are considered unique.
Here is an interesting site about the domes.
www.static.monolithic.com
And no the government doesn't need to do the financing but the government should persuade financial institute to get behind the building of them.
First of all, an indoor sports field or two would be great to have. I don't feel however that the government should be involved in it. Our taxes are already too high for the limited services provided. If there is a private investor out there willing to do it that would be great. Or how about a co-operative effort by local citizens. I just don't know if it is economically feasible.
I need to reiterate the primary sentiment of my comment. Please pay attention..fairbanks does not NEED this. It would be NICE if we had it, and sure it would be HELPFUL to our athletes if we had it. But this is not a NEEDED thing. I would not oppose it, I would probably take advantage of it (especially if my tax dollars hypothetically went towards paying for it). However, if it came down to deciding between a state of the art indoor astroturf dome, and road maintenance, I think I would have to vote for the roads. I have no problem with a dome or indoor soccer/football/track etc. I think it is a neat idea. However, I also think that it is unrealistic, and would fail. There is no reason for our state legislators to be involved with this. I suppose you could make the argument that local government would need to be involved if only for logistics sake, but this is not something that we need the almighty government to provide for us.
If there is a business person in Fairbanks that is wiling to foot the bill and roll the dice on whether or not this sort of venture would be profitable, more power to them! However, I think there is a reason why it ahs not happened as of yet.
Fairbanks never ceases to amaze me...the think small, be small attitude. Why are we not a more progressive community? because soo many are small minded and lack vision. Most healthy,thriving communities recognize the need for recreational facilities. It adds to a healthier community. Granted, Gov must focus on essential services and energy relief, but they can facilitate a project like this through grants. We have a parks and rec department, therefore local gov should be involved. Many people (the silient majority) support a healty community with controlled growth- not the attitude as displayed by some of our community "leaders" that do not display an attitude reflective of the community.
It is not the governments duty to do crap like this!It is the governments job to police our streets,clear snow from the roads
and fire protection(for the ones that live close to town).Maybe instead of pissing money away on stuff the government could provide fire protection for those of us who live out of town with our tax dollars.
>I remember when Sear's was "The Center", that was perfect! We could roller skate, watch movies or bowl all in 1 place. I always wondered why it didn't stay open. It was always busy, and I don't recall any major problems.
As one who knows a little about that project I'll tell you. The Center failed becasue parents wanted to be able to drop their kid off and have them 'entertained' all day for $5 and I don't mean to sound flip, but that really was the case. The damage that kids inflict on a facility can not possibly be covered from the pittance they contribute. Heat, interest cost, property taxes, security, wear and tear all combined and each person (today) would have to contribute on the order of $10 - $20 PER HOUR of use. Think about the Theater - There's a reason popcorn is $6 for $.25 of product.
I agree we have a need for such an enclosed facility. The logical solution would be to use the old KMART building as a start. But we don't reuse buildings anymore. A 'Dome' would work here. It's cheaper to build but don't think it's cheaper to 'operate' than any other building - So it all comes down to cost. And if there are enough people who want / can pay for a dome then so be it. But when the Tennis Club wanted one my response was, fine, are you prepared to pay $40 per SET to cover the cost? I thought so.....
I think calling this project a need is appropriate. It is not saying that because it is a need the government should be involved. Anchorage's dome was a partnership between a megachurch and the municipality. Think about the money oil companies have spent in recent months on television and newspaper advertising. I wish I had specific figures but partnering up with FNSB Parks and Rec to construct this project would go a lot further in convincing me they have Alaska's best interest at heart than constantly being bombarded by occasionally misleading advertising. Check out www.thealaskadome.com to see the benefits. It really takes getting all the groups together and creating a vision. Just don't listen to the cynics! Synergy people!
A few years ago the Ray and Joan Kroc Foundation thru the Salvation Army accepted proposals from towns across the U.S. for indoor facilities. They offered several $37 million grants to several towns to build these facilities and our local Salvation Army submitted a proposal for one in Fairbanks with indoor fields on one side and a performing arts center on the other. Unfortunately we lost out to San Diego (like they need it).
Several of our local Lions Clubs, primarily Choice Lions and Interior Baseball Lions, are still attempting to build this dream. With various grants to fund this facility and other community type organizations donating funds to help pay for maintenance and utilities, we could make this happen without having our local government (and our tax dollars) pay for this.
If interested contact the Choice Lions at their Pull Tab store by the Safeway gas station. Ask about their vision.
As a person who grew up here playing sports all year round i would love to see a dome built, to often the school gyms were overbooked or booked way into the night in an effort to let everyone have a chance to play. Also we would be far more competitive against anchorage teams if we had correct playing surfaces.
To reply to mrderik's assertion that,"The logical solution would be to use the old KMART building as a start. But we don't reuse buildings anymore."
Most the old "unused" buildings around town are owned by companies and being used in various ways. If you really, really, want to use them in a manner you see fit I'm sure you could look up the owners and try and negotiate. It seems this town has a fallacy about those buildings being unused.
Bob has a good post.
It's a good idea. Maybe it can help to combat the obesity issue with kids and adults.