PORT ANGELES — The Bubble may be back.
The Clallam County Family YMCA is taking one more shot at finding a home for the inflatable fieldhouse, known as the “Bubble.”
City Manager Kent Myers told the City Council Tuesday the YMCA wanted to sell it unless it can be placed at a city park, preferably at Erickson Park.
But several council members made it clear they will not support placing the structure at Erickson Park, which the YMCA has said is the only place it wants to put it.
“I couldn’t support a big white light bulb at Erickson Park,” said Deputy Mayor Don Perry.
The Bubble is a 296-foot-long, 118-foot-wide, 40-foot-tall air structure currently in storage.
It could be used for tennis courts, a soccer field and other recreational activities, the group called Friends of the Fieldhouse said.
The YMCA has said it will pay for the maintenance and operations of the fieldhouse if it is placed at Erickson Park.
The council tabled a decision on whether to place the Bubble there in October 2008, but the issue hasn’t come back up for a vote.
Mayor Dan Di Guilio, Perry and Myers, who said they had recently met with YMCA representatives on the issue, said the park remains the nonprofit’s favorite spot for the fieldhouse because of its proximity to its building at 302 S. Francis St.
Myers said the city is talking to the YMCA about placing it somewhere else.
YMCA Executive Director Kyle Cronk and James Schouten, representative of Friends of the Fieldhouse, which presented the Bubble proposal to the city, didn’t return several calls requesting comment on Wednesday and Thursday.
YMCA board President Laurel Black couldn’t be reached Thursday.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
