WAVERLY -- The first Saturday in February, environmental enthusiasts, collegiate track stars, basketball players and wrestlers all headed for the same place. So did coaches and fans.

On a single day, the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center hosted an environmental fair, a track meet, men's and women's basketball games and a wrestling competition.

Another 1,000 people showed up to exercise, said Jim Langel, executive director of the wellness center. It was a busy day, yet not too crowded. There was plenty of parking, Langel said.

From the second floor, he could observe much of the activity.

"It was great," Langel said. "You could stand up here and listen to things going on all over."

That may seem like a lot going on under one roof. Then again, the wellness center has 200,000 square feet and two stories to work with. The $30 million facility, dubbed The W, spans two blocks.

The W opened 14 months ago, the result of a partnership between Wartburg College and Waverly. Residents and college students share an aquatic center, indoor tracks, gymnasiums, racquetball and tennis courts and a fitness center. Athletic teams work out en masse apart from the public, Langel said.

"There's so much to do here, and it's kept very clean," said Lex Smith, a Waverly resident in his sixties.

Smith, a retired dean of students for Wartburg, said he could easily spend all day at The W. He sometimes does.

"I come down here to work out, but it's also a social place," he added.

Staff at The W also run an expanded version of the city's recreational programs. Membership at the wellness center -- available on a month-to-month basis -- means a reduced rate for these programs but is not required.

In return, the City Council agreed to pay up to $6 million over eight years toward the project, depending on revenue at The W. This year, Waverly officials expect their contributions will reflect their annual scheduled payment of $150,000, plus an additional $600,000 -- the latter at the high end of a contingency plan to make up for revenue shortfalls, said City Administrator Dick Crayne.

City and college officials acknowledge revenue streams during the first year were less than ideal. But they continue to be optimistic. Memberships are on the rise and they believe in the product.

Mayor Ike Ackerman called the college-city agreement a good deal. The city contributes financially to the facility but is spared the responsibility of upkeep and utilities, he said.

"It's a substantial amount of money, but in the long-run it's really quite a bargain," Ackerman said.

The mayor considers The W a positive investment for Waverly.

"It makes a powerful impression on people," Ackerman said.

"I think it's been a terrific asset to the city and the college as well," he added.

Not everyone is so sure.

Concerns

The W -- or perhaps more so, the money the city may pay toward the facility -- has prompted several skeptical letters to the editor. The wellness center and its city financing was recently cited in a citizen's petition to keep the hospital's fitness center open.

And during the City Council's annual strategic planning session, several members of The W's citizens advisory committee discussed ways to refute what they see as misconceptions about the facility circulating in the community.

Gary Grace, a Waverly councilman and vice president for administration for Wartburg, encourages residents to get the facts.

"My basic hope is that whether people are critical of the project or supportive of it, they can have a conversation with the right information," Grace said.

Some citizen concerns precede the facility's ground-breaking in 2006.

Waverly resident Deb Turnball thinks The W is a lovely building with lots of positive aspects. But Turnball, president of Waverly Citizens United, a group involved with flood mitigation, isn't entirely satisfied.

"I guess the question would be why weren't we area citizens allowed to vote on this building because this is a big expense for the city and the tax money," Turnball said. "That's brought up over and over."

Waverly resident Janet Platter values health and wellness. She joined Health Promotion at the Waverly Health Center but it closed at the end of February as part of a series of cost-saving measures.

Platter, who is retired, thinks some citizens can't afford The W. She said she isn't pleased that the city is using taxpayers' money to fund a facility she doesn't use.

The timing doesn't help.

"You've got people with the flood. You've got people without jobs. You've got the retired paying more for their medical and (the city) is still going to pay The W this much a year?" Platter said. "Are you kidding me?"

The agreement

In 2005, Wartburg officials unveiled a plan for a multi-million dollar wellness center and asked the city to help fund it. The proposal followed failed attempts by the city to gain voter approval for scaled back versions of a recreational facility and indoor pool.

Former Waverly Mayor Evelyn Rathe remembers past discussions. She sensed support in the community for improved recreation but for some reason, projects didn't get off the ground. In her point of view, Wartburg's proposal offered the right ingredients.

"I think the cooperation between the city and the college was exactly what was needed," Rathe said.

Council members agreed to pay at least $1.2 million toward the wellness center project in eight annual payments of $150,000, beginning last year. The city previously channeled money to its now-defunct recreation department and laid off several employees, Crayne said.

The city also agreed to pay an additional $4.8 million over eight years, if needed, to offset revenue shortfalls. This money will come from tax increment financing and capitol improvement funds, Crayne said.

"And if we did a facility on our own our costs would be so much higher than that," he added.

Revenue estimates determined prior to The W's ground-breaking in 2006 projected more than $1 million coming in to the facility during it's first year of operation.

The facility opened on January 7, 2008. Revenues for the year, which included memberships, guest and city programming fees, added up to more than $500,000, not counting the city's contribution.

Langel pointed to several factors that may have influenced turnout during the first year.

The original plan was to hold a soft opening at The W to allow staff and potential users to get acclimated to the facility before its full-fledged opening. Instead, construction delays interfered with this plan. On day one, visitors regretfully experienced long lines and staff members were still working out some bugs in the system, Langel said.

He also suspects the flooding last June and general concerns about the economy have affected numbers. Langel said last year The W reimbursed monthly memberships in June for flood victims.

"It's just the right thing to do," he said.

Grace said the city's financial commitment and partnership has worked well. Given the current economic climate, and the newness of operations, Grace said he's encouraged.

"I think it's off to a good start."

Grace said it's not accurate to view Waverly's financial contributions as a surprise or a rescue. Rather, he believes the partnership exemplifies careful financial planning that considered and provided for both best-case and worst-case scenarios.

Having the city in the equation minimizes risk for Wartburg, said Grace, and allows The W to operate at revenue neutral without negatively affecting the overall operating budget of the college.

"It's not a bailout," Grace said. "It's just originally part of the agreement."

Some residents said the entire project moved too quickly.

"The underlying rub is that people feel they didn't have a voice in how it was decided," said councilman Duane Liddle. "It's water over the bridge at this point, but that's where the grumblings are coming from."

Crayne said he expected the contingency funds might kick in during the early years.

"I think we are in that growing period right now," Crayne said.

The city approved the project before Liddle took office. But his impression of early discussions is that the city took a more optimistic view.

"Like me, or anybody else, I don't like surprises and it did come as part of a surprise," Liddle said.

"Yes, there's money budgeted for it but that money, it comes out of some other projects," he added. "That's where it comes from."

Operations and action plan

Key to the city-college partnership was a commitment by Wartburg to make the facility accessible to all residents. A citizens advisory committee, which includes citizen, Wartburg and City Council representation, formed to represent residents. Monitoring and ensuring the consistency, quality and price of recreational programs has been a priority, said Reid Koenig, chair of the committee.

"It's largely gone pretty well," said Koenig, chief operating officer at CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Company.

The group will continue to discuss topics like the quality of instructors and a discount policy for members, he said. The price of membership is also a balancing act.

Langel said staff will continue to evaluate programs. He thinks The W's early out program for school children has worked well.

In the coming years, Langel would like to see an increase in corporate partnerships and insurance policies that reward health center memberships. He also hopes that research indicating an influx in health club memberships will prove true at The W.

The W stands to recoup at least 50 new members with the closing of Health Promotion, Langel said. The W hosted orientation sessions to smooth the transition. Langel and staff are also working to counter a perception by some the idea that The W is ill-equipped to serve senior citizens and residents with health concerns -- an idea put forth in a pro-Health Promotion petition and some of its members.

Cost and quality of life

Last year, Platter visited The W during an open house. She sees the wellness center as too extravagant for a project that involves public money.

"Waverly always has to be the big show and I think people are tired of it," she added.

Others are pleased with the product.

Bonnie Erskine, 69, walks the track at The W five days a week. Her husband, Frank, 71, retired from John Deere, comes six days a week to walk, swim, lifts weight or play tennis.

"It's a nice place to come … No bugs. No wind," he said.

He also said it's hard to assign a value to personal wellness.

"If you lose your health, you've lost everything," Erskine said. "You can't put a cost on your health."

Dave Fredrick, association director for international recruitment at Wartburg, is nearing retirement and said amenities like The W make him see Waverly as his long-term home.

Iowa is full of dying towns, said Fredrick, but Waverly is not one of them.

"And I think this is one of the reasons," Fredrick said. "This facility is evident of that. Quality of life is important."

Contact Karen Heinselman at (319) 291-1581 or karen.heinselman@wcfcourier.com.