State leases St. Edward Park gym for basketball camps

State recreation officials still plan to close the park pool, but an adjacent gym will get a new life

The state has not announced any changes to its plans, made public in December, to permanently decommission the Carole Ann Wald Pool in Kenmore’s St. Edward State Park.

But state park officials and Everett’s Hummel Enterprises have signed a 10-year deal for Hummel to operate basketball clinics in the St. Edward Seminary gym.

Under the name Advantage Basketball Camps, Hummel operates camps across the country, including at locations in Bellevue and other spots around the Puget Sound.

Including taxes, Hummel will pay the state $16,926 annually for non-exclusive leasing rights to the gym. The cost of the lease will increase 15 percent every year and Hummel has an option to extend the lease another five years at the end of the initial 10-year period.

Advantage Basketball Camps founder Michael Hummel said he hopes to be up and running in the seminary gym by the end of February. The lease took effect Feb. 1 and Hummel said workers already are revamping the St. Edward facility, painting and redoing the floors, among other improvements.

Hummel also talked about adding new hoops along with rebounding and shooting machines.

“It is really going to be a great facility when we’re through with it,” he said.

Hummel stated several times that his basic plan is to transform the St. Edward gym into a “premier basketball training facility.” Why did he decide to offer camps in the park? Hummel said he’d been looking for another local spot for his camps for sometime.

“It’s a historical old building, which I really like,” Hummel added.

Though he did not go into details, Hummel said the St. Edward gym eventually will be the location of significant non-profit opportunities for local youth. Again, offering no details, Hummel spoke briefly of an on-going relationship with former Seahawks player Sam Adams who now works with Advantage Basketball.

According to Hummel’s Web site, the story behind Advantage Basketball is a long one. Hummel suffers from Tourette Syndrome and the uncontrollable movements caused by the disorder meant he needed to work extra hard to play basketball as a youth. Hummel credits an early coach with motivating him to overcome his problems and take to the court.

Hummel’s lease agreement with the state makes no mention of the Carole Ann Wald Pool near the seminary. The pool has been closed for over a year after the private operator walked away citing heavy financial losses. Director of the state Parks and Recreation Commission, Don Hoch said in December that a call for proposals to run the pool attracted no responses.

“Pursuant to our management plan, the long-term objective for the agency is to remove the pool building from the historic landscape at Saint Edward State Park,” Hoch said in December.