Jul. 28—Kalispell City Council may rename the Kidsports Complex to honor Dan Johns, a key figure in the athletic facility’s creation.
Council will deliberate changing the Kidsports Youth Athletic Complex to the Dan Johns Kidsports Complex on July 28 at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.
Roy Beekman, a board member for the nonprofit that runs Kidsports, asked for the name change during a July city meeting. He first raised the idea in 2016 “and it’s kind of got kicked down the road and we decided we needed to revisit it,” Beekman said.
During the meeting, Beekman dived into the history of the sports complex that houses over 30 different playing surfaces and welcomes thousands of kids and their families every year.
“All of this started back in early 1990 with Dan Johns having a vision,” Beekman said.
Johns sought to consolidate the various baseball fields scattered around the city. Business development in South Kalispell steamrolling baseball fields and the Kalispell City Airport displacing a soccer field added a sense of urgency, Beekman said.
In 1997, Kalispell entered into a lease agreement with the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to designate 138 acres for youth athletic fields. The city and Kidsports formed a public-private partnership, with the city agreeing to put money into initial construction while the Kidsports board oversaw any future development and paid the annual lease.
By 2013, the city entered a permanent easement with the state agency, dropping the lease payment, according to Beekman.
“[Johns] spent innumerable hours creating documents, going to meetings, negotiating with the government agencies that were involved,” he said. “None of this would have been possible without the relentless efforts of Dan Johns.”
Johns is currently residing in an Oregon nursing home to be close to his son, Beekman said.
“I wanted to do this while Dan is still alive,” he said.
“What we have here in the north of Kalispell is a complex like no other in the Pacific Northwest.” Beekman added.
COUNCIL WILL also weigh in on a request from the Northwest Montana History Museum to acquire its historic downtown Kalispell building from City Hall.
The municipality has leased the building at 124 Second Ave. E. to the nonprofit since 1997, but the arrangement has made it difficult to raise money, particularly from private donors, according to the museum’s leaders.
Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 or junderhill@dailyinterlake.com.