When Kirk Wythers heard about St. Paul's plans to shutter some recreation centers because of budget constraints, he grew a bit concerned.
Then the president of the St. Paul Blackhawks Soccer Club got excited about the prospect of taking over one of the centers with the goal of creating a European-style soccer training facility for youths. As of last week, it did.
The Blackhawks now have their own home at the Orchard Recreation Center in the North End neighborhood, and the city doesn't have to pay for utilities or staffing the center anymore.
The city has or is working on lining up deals with nonprofit groups to manage eight of its 41 rec centers, as a way to keep the buildings open and available to community members rather than locking the doors.
"The deal was, we move in and they forward us the bills," Wythers said.
Last fall, Mayor Chris Coleman suggested closing 10 centers to cut costs, but community feedback led to keeping Northwest Como and Prosperity open.
The city was $17 million short on its budget for 2008 and that led to a 15.1 percent increase in the city's portion of the property tax levy.
In addition to cost savings, the mayor reasoned that closing the less-attended centers would mean adding more staff, better hours and additional programs at other sites.