ST. CHARLES • McNair Park is the latest focus of city efforts to build a long-sought community center.

The City Council on Tuesday night will discuss a consulting firm’s recently-submitted analysis of erecting a 70,000-square foot facility on the park’s west side.

Council President Michael Klinghammer emphasized Friday that the council has yet to decide whether to go ahead with the plan, which would involve selling bonds of up to $30 million approved by voters in 2008.

"I would like to see it," Klinghammer said of the facility, which would be scaled back from an earlier plan that collapsed in 2010. "I’m a fiscal realist also. It has to be one we can afford."

He added that while the council had asked the consultant, Colorado-based Ballard King and Associates, to analyze the park site, the city had yet to make a final decision on a location.

Klinghammer said he had not yet reviewed the report and was undecided on whether to proceed. The report projects operating costs exceeding revenues by about $300,000 a year.

That spurred one councilman, Dave Beckering, to declare his opposition.

He said a subsidy of that size is a much lower priority than street repairs and other needs.

"I think it’s dead," he said. "It’s a drain on city resources at a time when we need city resources."

The city previously had planned to join with ShowMe Aquatics and Fitness, a nonprofit group serving disabled people, to build a 120,000-square-foot facility on land owned by ShowMe along Interstate 70.

That project fell apart when ShowMe couldn’t come up with the money it had committed to the deal.

The new plan recommended by the consulting firm calls for:

* A 16,000-square-foot swimming area that includes both a competitive pool for fitness, practice and events and a leisure pool with a water slide, sprays and fountains, zero-depth entry and other features.

* A 12,000-square-foot area that can be divided into two gyms, both with basketball courts.

* A 10-foot-wide walking and jogging track.

* Areas for weight training and cardiovascular equipment.

* A multi-purpose room and two rooms that could be rented for birthday parties and other events.

* An aerobic/dance/martial arts area. An auxiliary room could accommodate yoga and other activities.

* An indoor playground, a babysitting area with games and toys and an interactive game room with computer-based equipment.

The McNair Park facility would be operated by city parks employees. The building planned with ShowMe Aquatics would have used ShowMe staffers.

Klinghammer said the city has yet to explore seeking other groups such as the YMCA as possible partners but that is still possible.

The consultant anticipates monthly admission fees for city residents of $50 for families or $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for youths. Non-residents would pay more. But those are estimates; the actual fees have yet to be determined by the city.

This isn't the first time McNair Park has been considered for the center. In 2003, it was one of five priority sites recommended by a committee of council members and city Park Board members.