Moving forward with wellness!
CUSTER COUNTY It’s no secret that being active is part of living well. Physical activity can be as simple as walking, participating in chair yoga, even lifting small weights or stretching while watching TV.
For those who want more, the Melham Wellness Center at Tomahawk Park in Broken Bow offers a variety of options. For an annual fee, members have access to weights, treadmills, Nustep recumbent cross trainers, ellipticals, a tennis court, an aerobics room, punching bag and more.
In a few short years, there will be a new option for wellness in Custer County - the Custer County Wellness and Early Learning Center.
With a planned location near the pool at Melham Park, the 67,000 square foot facility will replace the Melham Wellness Center and offer an important additional service, a child care center.
The name includes “Custer County” because it will be a county-wide facility.
“We will encourage everyone from the county to use it,” Broken Bow City Administrator Dan Knoell said.
The Custer County Wellness Center will offer everything that the current Melham Wellness Center offers, with one exception, the tennis courts. Due to the Marchek family memorial donation that made the full-size courts possible, they will stay at 1605 S. B Street.
The new wellness center will also offer new options including an elevated track, a teen space, a rock wall and a full-size gymnasium, that can accommodate basketball and volleyball up to Division I college level play. Knoell said such a facility will not only help high schools when more space is needed, it also means that collegiate teams can come to Custer County for exhibition games.
The cost of the facility is $19 million to $23 million. “Twenty-three is the high end,” Knoell explained. “That’s with increased costs built in”
It will be funded by private donations, grants and cooperative agreements with multiple local entities. “A bond is not on the table,” Knoell said firmly.
To use the facility, there will be membership fees
though the exact amounts are still being worked out. The goal is to have fees that are very reasonable for both individuals and families.
“There will be scholarships available to assist with costs,” he added. “Fees will be age beneficial and income beneficial.”
Knoell acknowledged that Custer County has miles and miles of roads as well as trails where people walk and run. However, with the elevated track at the new center, a comfortable environment and safety will be available. “People walk at the park around Melham Lake,” he said. “Some can’t walk that in winter. In the center, nine times around the track and you have a nice mile.”
He explained that the center can also offer activities in the summer for teens, a time when some say there is less to do in the area.
The new facility will also address a critical need for Custer County - child care. Community studies show that there are more than 200 children in Custer County who need day care but their families cannot find it as current facilities are full. The Early Learning Center will open with a capacity of 80 children and hopefully grow to care for 134 children.
The day care center will be integral to Custer County’s wellness and ability to move forward. Without adequate day care, some people cannot enter the workforce. It will also be a plus in helping Custer County businesses recruit new employees.
“We struggle with getting employees to Broken Bow and to Custer County because of lack of workforce housing,” Knoell said. “We can build houses, but where do they put their kids? This will help Custer County companies and businesses to get those employees here. It’s a huge recruiting tool.”
Some may remember that the City of Broken Bow talked of bringing a YMCA to town a few years ago. “This facility sprang from the YMCA idea,” Knoell said. “But this will be independent.” This means the facility will not have to belong or pay into a regional group as well as conform to regulations that govern everything from membership fees to logos.
The Custer County Wellness and Early Learning Center will be governed by a board of
directors.
“In the beginning, it will be owned by a board of directors and governed by a coordinating effort,” Knoell said. “Then in the future, the goal is for it to be 100 percent self-sustaining with a board of directors.”
Until the new facility is open, however, Melham Wellness Center will continue to offer a clean and safe environment for working out and exercising.
“The center is available 24/7 to members,” Melham Wellness Center Clerk Janet Morgan said. “They use key fobs to get access. We keep digital records and we have security
video cameras.”
Morgan said the center sees activity most any time, day or night. Many use the facility over their lunch hour, like Cece Killinger.
“It’s important for me to stay active,” Killinger told the Chief after finishing a three-mile run on a treadmill over her lunch break on Feb. 8. “I have a one-year-old and I have to keep up with him. It’s great to have this available.”
Morgan said some members come in after they finish the 11 o’clock shift. Others may be there as early as 3:30 a.m. to work out before heading off to work. “The railroaders
use it,” Morgan said. “It draws people in from all over.”
Currently, the wellness center has approximately 350 members
Members are allowed to bring a guest with them; there is a $5 per day fee for that. Morgan also works with people who are in the area for an extended time for family emergencies or job situations.
She emphasized that members are respectful of each other and the facility. They wipe down equipment before and after each use.
Morgan has been the Wellness Center Clerk since June, 2022. She splits her time between
the center (12:30 to 2:30 p.m., Mon-Thurs) with her other responsibilities at Melham Medical Center.
“At first I really didn’t know it was here,” she said. “It’s awesome how many people utilize it.”
Years ago, the wellness center was in the basement of the hospital, Morgan said. Max Richards and Tom Mills remember when it was located near Becton Dickinson. Both of them go to the wellness center to keep moving with exercise.
Richards, who is recovering from cancer surgery, says it means “everything” to have a place to exercise and grow
stronger.
“When I started, I could hardly lift the barbell empty,” Richards said. “Now I can lift maybe 40 pounds. This place means a lot. I don’t know what we’d do without it.”
Mills echoed Richards’ comments, saying he exercises to hold off the effects of a nerve disease. He was exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam in the US Army, 1969-1970.
“I want to keep going for as long as I can,” Mills said. “Yes, exercise is important.”
Mike Bell visits the wellness center a few
days each week. “I walk the treadmill and stretch and do push ups,” he said. “This time of year it’s big so you don’t have to walk on snow and ice.” He said he keeps active to “be able to keep doing the things I want to do.”
The City of Broken Bow has applied for a 2023 CCCFF (Civic and Community Center Financing Fund) Grant for the new center. Knoell is hopeful the grant will come through. He reported to the city council in January that CCCFF officials told him the facility is the exact type of project the grants are designed for. This year, $500,000 is available for smaller communities. This means that Broken Bow will not be competing with Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney for the funds.
In planning meetings, there was discussion about building the new center in phases, however, both the wellness center and child care center were deemed priorities.
“It’s financially smart to build it all at once” Knoell said. “The wellness center and the child care center will be interconnected. It’s one project. Our goal is one grand opening.”
Knoell reiterated the facility will be funded privately and not through a bond or taxes. For the facility to offer free access, it would have to be bonded. “Since tax payers aren’t paying for it, it has to be membership based,” he explained.
He also emphasized the importance of the center to the growth of Broken Bow and the growth of Custer County. As city administrator, he sees it only as a positive to attract people to the area and have them find jobs or start businesses here.
He says he also has personal reasons as a parent for wanting the center.
“I want my children to come back,” he said. “I see a lot of parents struggle with wanting their children to come back.” He said a wellness center and child care center can be instrumental in helping young people make the decision to make Custer County their home.
Knoell stated being active is important to his own family and it’s important to the local communities as well. “Activity means wellness. It means healthier employees and happier employees and happier businesses.”
He gave a nod to Broken Bow’s motto, “Rooted but not standing still.”
“That is the greatest motto of all time,” Knoell said. “Broken Bow is not going away. We are continuing to move forward.”