The Valley Signal

Growth & Land Use

YMCA Pitch to Teton 401: An Early Idea, Not a Plan

Advocates for a Teton Valley YMCA pitched a school-land partnership to Teton 401 trustees on April 13. The proposal is exploratory and unfunded.

By The Valley Signal Editorial Board · ·

DRIGGS — Advocates for a Teton Valley YMCA presented an exploratory discussion to the Teton 401 school board on April 13, asking trustees to consider whether about 18 acres of district-owned land along Ski Hill Road, near Teton High School, Teton Middle School, and Driggs Elementary, might host a future YMCA campus. The item carried no motion or vote.

The school site is one of three options the advocates have on the table. The other two are roughly seven city-owned acres on Fifth Street in Driggs that the city has earmarked for Teton Valley Aquatics for years, and a privately owned parcel in the Driggs area whose size and availability are still in flux.

Paul Kitchen, a community member who serves on the board of Teton FC, the local soccer club, led the presentation. He told the board the local effort cannot stand up a YMCA on its own. Treasure Valley YMCA, the Boise-based regional alliance, is the parent organization that approves each procedural step. The Boise board has approved the local group's market feasibility study, which is complete, and has authorized the next gate, a donor feasibility study scheduled to begin this summer. A Teton Valley YMCA, if built, would become the alliance's sixth member.

"In no way, shape, or form have we been approved to even have a YMCA in Teton Valley," Kitchen told trustees. "We're taking the steps."

Trustee response was mixed. Some on the board said they wanted to keep talking; others raised traffic concerns near the schools and questioned whether the district should consider conveying taxpayer-funded land to a private nonprofit before the district has mapped its own future-building needs. Superintendent Brian Ashton said the district cannot fund recreational amenities but the proposal is "worth having more conversations about."

The board took no formal action. Trustees asked Kitchen to bring back examples of school districts that have co-located with YMCAs and asked staff to develop a comparison of the three sites. The district is also working with a consultant on a forward-looking land and facilities master plan that maps district-owned land against future school siting needs.

What to watch: May 11, the next regular Teton 401 board meeting. Summer 2026, when the donor feasibility study begins. Early fall 2026, when advocates expect a decision on whether the school-land partnership is worth pursuing further.

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