Jerome Built a Rec Center for 13,000. Twin Falls Has Nothing.

TL;DR: Twenty miles north of Twin Falls, Jerome operates a 32,000-square-foot recreation center with two gyms, a fitness center, a walking track, an outdoor pool, youth sports, adult leagues, senior programming, and homeschool PE. A family membership costs $44.66 per month. A senior membership costs $14.18. A daily drop-in costs $4. The fitness center operates at cost recovery that exceeds 100 percent, and the gym revenue covers the pool's seasonal deficit. Jerome serves 13,000 residents. Twin Falls has more than four times that population and no comparable public facility. Twin Falls families already drive to Jerome for recreation their own city cannot provide.

The Nampa case study proved that a recreation center can sustain itself for 30 years in Idaho without taxpayer subsidy. Nampa is 130 miles from Twin Falls. The drive takes two hours. The model is proven, but it is distant.

Jerome is not distant. It is 20 miles up Highway 93. The drive takes 20 minutes. And Jerome's recreation center is not a theoretical model. It is the facility that Twin Falls families already use because their own city has nothing to offer.

What Jerome built

The Jerome Recreation District operates a 32,000-square-foot facility at 2032 South Lincoln Avenue. The building includes two gyms, a fitness center with cardio and weight equipment, an indoor walking track, and access to an outdoor pool and wading pool that operate seasonally from June through August.

The facility is not new. It has been serving the Jerome community for years, operating as a special recreation district governed by an elected board, separate from the City of Jerome. Its annual budget is publicly available through the district's website.

Jerome has roughly 13,000 residents. The facility serves that population with daily programming, youth and adult sports, fitness classes, and community events. It is not a luxury built for a wealthy community. It is basic recreation infrastructure built for a small Idaho city that decided its residents deserved it.

What it costs to use

Jerome's membership pricing is published on their website and demonstrates what affordable public recreation looks like in practice.

Daily rates are even simpler: $4 for adults, $3 for youth, $2 for seniors, $2.50 for walking track or open gym only.

Non-residents are welcome at slightly higher rates, approximately $10 more per year. That means Twin Falls families who drive to Jerome for recreation are paying only marginally more than Jerome residents for full access.

For context, a family membership at Jerome's recreation center costs $44.66 per month and covers two adults and all dependents under 19 with unlimited access to the fitness center, equipment, walking track, and open gym. A single adult membership at a private gym in Twin Falls costs $40 to $80 per month and covers one person with equipment access only.

The value comparison is not close.

What happens inside every week

Jerome's recreation center is not a building with equipment that sits idle. It runs active programming across age groups, seasons, and interests. Here is what the current schedule shows.

Youth programming. Youth taekwondo classes run regularly. Homeschool PE gives homeschool families structured physical education during weekday hours when the facility is quietest. Summer offerings include basketball camps, soccer camps through Challenger Sports, tennis clinics, and tumbling classes. Fall youth sports registration opens every summer.

Adult programming. Adult softball leagues run through the summer season. One-pitch softball leagues offer a casual recreational option for adults who want to play without a heavy competitive commitment.

Senior programming. "Over 60 and Getting Fit" is a dedicated program for older adults. CSI Forever Fit runs through a partnership with the College of Southern Idaho. These programs provide exactly the kind of structured senior wellness that research shows reduces fall risk, chronic disease, and isolation in older adults.

Group fitness classes. The Silver Plus and Gold Plus membership tiers include unlimited access to fitness classes, providing the same kind of group fitness programming that drives adult membership retention at every recreation center.

Community events. Jerome's recreation district runs food truck and live music nights, scavenger hunts, Parks After Dark events, and a Mudapalooza event. These are not fitness programs. They are community-building activities that make the recreation district a civic institution, not just a gym.

This is a 32,000-square-foot facility in a city of 13,000 running youth taekwondo, homeschool PE, basketball camps, soccer camps, tennis clinics, tumbling, adult softball, senior fitness, group exercise classes, food truck nights, and community events. It does all of this on a public budget that is transparent and posted online.

How the money works

The Twin Falls Recreation Center campaign's analysis of Jerome's financial records cites the fitness center operating at 100.7 percent cost recovery. That means the fitness center generates slightly more revenue than it costs to operate.

The outdoor pool, which runs seasonally from June through August, operates at a deficit. This is standard. Every public pool in America runs at a deficit because pools are expensive to staff, heat, maintain, and insure, and seasonal facilities generate revenue for only three months while carrying costs year-round.

But the fitness center's surplus covers the pool's shortfall. The gym pays for the pool. That is the model. And it works in a city of 13,000 people with a 32,000-square-foot facility and membership rates that start at $14.18 per month.

The Nampa model proves a recreation center can sustain itself at scale (140,000 sq ft, 115,000 residents). The Jerome model proves it can work at community scale (32,000 sq ft, 13,000 residents). Together, they bracket Twin Falls (57,325 residents) from both sides: the model works bigger and it works smaller. Twin Falls sits in between.

The Twin Falls families who already use it

This is the part of the Jerome story that makes the Twin Falls case most directly.

Twin Falls families already drive to Jerome for recreation. They drive 20 miles to use a walking track, a fitness center, open gym courts, and a pool that their own city does not provide. They pay the non-resident rate, which is only $10 more per year than what Jerome residents pay. And they do this because the alternative in Twin Falls is a private gym at $40-80/month per person with no courts, no track, no youth programming, and no family membership.

A city of 57,000 is sending its residents to a city of 13,000 for basic public recreation. That pattern tells you everything you need to know about the infrastructure gap.

Jerome's facility was built for Jerome. It was not designed to absorb demand from a city four times its size. When Twin Falls families drive to Jerome for recreation, they are using infrastructure their own city should have built, and they are adding traffic and wear to a facility that Jerome's 13,000 residents funded for themselves.

What Twin Falls would gain that Jerome cannot provide

Jerome's 32,000-square-foot facility is impressive for a city its size. But it cannot do what a Twin Falls-scale facility would do.

Tournament hosting. Jerome's gyms can host local leagues but not regional multi-team tournaments that draw visiting teams from across southern Idaho and fill hotel rooms along Blue Lakes Boulevard. A four-court facility in Twin Falls would host basketball, volleyball, wrestling, pickleball, and cheerleading events that bring outside spending into the Magic Valley.

Dedicated pickleball courts. Jerome's facility does not have permanent pickleball infrastructure. A Twin Falls facility with dedicated courts would serve the fastest-growing sport in America without competing for gymnasium time.

Climbing wall. Jerome does not have one. A Twin Falls facility with a climbing wall would serve youth programming, birthday parties, after-school access, and summer camp rotations.

Indoor aquatics. Jerome's pool is outdoor and seasonal (June through August). A Twin Falls facility with indoor aquatics would provide year-round swim access covering the five months of winter when Jerome's pool is closed and no public option exists anywhere in the Magic Valley.

Scale of programming. Jerome runs youth taekwondo and basketball camps. A Twin Falls facility at two to four times the square footage could run simultaneous programming across martial arts, cheerleading and dance, group fitness, community events, and drop-in recreation without scheduling conflicts.

The two facilities would complement each other, not compete. Jerome would continue serving its community. Twin Falls would stop sending its residents 20 miles down the highway for recreation it should provide at home.

Where the conversation stands

A recreation center committee within the Twin Falls Parks and Recreation Department has been studying this question since 2017. In June 2025, the City Council voted to advance the long-stalled feasibility study. Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Davis said the council's vote "breathed a little bit of life into what I thought was a dying initiative."

A grassroots advocacy campaign has proposed naming a potential facility after U.S. Army Specialist Troy Carlin Linden, a soldier with the 54th Engineer Battalion who was killed in action on July 8, 2006, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. The proposal comes from a Twin Falls resident who served in the same unit.

Closing

Jerome did not wait for a larger population to justify a recreation center. It did not wait for a perfect economy or a federal grant. It built a 32,000-square-foot facility, staffed it, programmed it, priced it so a senior can walk the track for $14.18 a month and a family can use the entire building for $44.66, and made it work financially for a city of 13,000.

Twenty miles south, Twin Falls has four times the population, four times the tax base, and four times the demand. It has no comparable facility. Its families drive to Jerome, to Nampa, to Boise, and to Salt Lake City for recreation their own city cannot provide.

Jerome is proof that the model works in a small Idaho community. Nampa is proof that it works at larger scale. Twin Falls is the city between them, in geography and in population, that has not yet built what both of its neighbors already have.

The proof is 20 miles away. It costs $44.66 a month. And Twin Falls families are already driving there to use it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Jerome's recreation center include?

A 32,000-square-foot facility with two gyms, a fitness center with cardio and weight equipment, an indoor walking track, and an outdoor pool and wading pool operating seasonally from June through August. Programming includes youth taekwondo, homeschool PE, basketball and soccer camps, adult softball, senior fitness, and group exercise classes.

How much does it cost?

A family membership for Jerome residents costs $44.66 per month. Individual memberships start at $22.33. Senior memberships start at $14.18. Daily drop-in rates are $4 for adults, $3 for youth, and $2 for seniors. Non-residents pay approximately $10 more per year.

Does the Jerome rec center pay for itself?

The campaign's analysis of Jerome's financial records cites the fitness center operating at 100.7 percent cost recovery. The outdoor pool runs a seasonal deficit, which is standard for every public pool. The fitness center's surplus covers the pool's shortfall.

Can Twin Falls residents use Jerome's facility?

Yes. Non-resident memberships are available at slightly higher rates. Many Twin Falls families already use Jerome's facility because Twin Falls has no comparable public recreation center.

Would a Twin Falls rec center compete with Jerome's?

No. The two facilities would complement each other. Jerome's 32,000-square-foot facility serves its immediate community. A Twin Falls facility at larger scale would add tournament hosting, dedicated pickleball courts, a climbing wall, indoor aquatics, and broader programming capacity that a smaller facility cannot provide.

Is Twin Falls actively considering a recreation center?

A city committee has been studying the question since 2017. In June 2025, the City Council voted to advance the feasibility process. No specific site, cost, or funding mechanism has been finalized as of this writing.

Where can residents follow the conversation?

Twin Falls City Council meetings are open to the public, and the Parks and Recreation Department posts updates on the city's official website. A community advocacy group is also tracking the issue at twinfallsreccenter.com.