After 14 years and two failed attempts to pass a recreation center bond in 2008 and 2019, the Redmond Area Parks and Recreation District is on the cusp of building a new facility.

Supporters of the bond knew it would be a close call heading into election night on Tuesday and their predictions came true: according to the latest tallies, the $49 million bond is 664 votes ahead.

The accompanying five-year levy to support operations, however, was failing by over 4,500 votes.

Election results will not be certified until December.

“It’s so close,” said Katie Hammer, parks district executive director, of the bond.

Hammer said if the 20-year bond is able to pass while the levy does not, the recreation district will build the facility and could try to pass an operating levy at a later date.

Zack Harmon, a park district board member, said they have multiple options to go out for a future levy but that it wasn’t altogether necessary for the facility.

Matt Gilman, the chairman of the parks district board of directors, said he felt good being about 660 votes ahead for the bond but that he’s not “counting his chickens.”

The levy, however, is a different story.

“The levy is not going to pass,” Gilman said. “I’m okay with that.”

The parks district put the levy on the ballot, he said, because they were trying to be as transparent as possible so that when they built the facility they wouldn’t surprise people with another price tag. But, he said they don’t need to be raising the operations money right at this moment.

Had the levy passed, Gilman previously said they’d hoped programming and activities would fund the facility after the five-year levy expired. Additionally, the recreation district can use the next few years during construction to save the funds needed to operate the facility.

However, the district may need to go out for another operating levy in the future depending on costs.

“It is definitely in our goals to have a lower levy after another five years if we have one at all,” Gilman wrote in a previous email. “We plan on offering all new types of programming and activities that should help our operations get closer to break even with the current tax rate that we have.”

The bond would fund the construction of a new 74,500-square-foot recreational facility at SW 35th Street and Lava Avenue in Redmond that would include multiple swimming pools, sports fields, a fitness center, gym space and more. The operating levy, meanwhile, would fund operations for the facility for five years.

Currently, park district administration and activities are hosted at the only public pool in Redmond — the Cascade Swim Center. Opened in 1979, the swim center catered to a population of about 6,500 people in the recreation district. The district currently encompasses roughly 45,000 people.

The park district estimates the bond would cost recreation district taxpayers 56 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value while the levy would cost 24 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.