PARKS & GLENN: Bill Haller, one-man booster of Big Lake

BIG LAKE — “They call me the Project Manager,” says Bill Haller from the lobby of the Big Lake Lions Recreation Center, a massive project which annually welcomes tens of thousands of athletes and conference guests as well as the weekly traffic of civic groups, yoga classes and event rentals.

In just over six years, the Rec Center has now become an epicenter of the community that it’s hard to envision the area doing without. The Lions Club offers free ice skating on Sunday afternoons all winter long, and shifts into soccer season in early March. An endeavor funded by private benefactors and successful grant proposals, the big white warehouse rises against its crisp snowy surroundings and awaits the next rush of Alaskans.

Few project managers have as much invested in a concept as Bill Haller does in the Rec Center, with his personal hours easily outpacing any of the others involved. While it’s a testament to his own calibrated efforts to provide the fruits of collaboration without the bureaucracy of government, his philosophy mirrors the rugged, DIY flavor of Big Lake. Haller oversees the daily maintenance of the site and continues to propel its vision, which had often been the source of rumblings in the community that finally found its champion in the soft-spoken, yet quick-witted and ambitious realtor.

He joined forces with the Lions Club, bringing his three decades of business acumen forged in the production, seafood, construction and sales industries.

Although politically well-connected, Haller confines his influence to the community he has called home since 2001. He holds no political office, save a three-year stint on the local planning commission, borne almost of necessity.

“Laws were written that prohibited public gatherings — our mud volleyball and races on the lake, they were effectively banned. Those are the events that make Big Lake what it is,” he said, describing further the popular weekend events. He lent his voice to restoring the seasonal favorites which keep year-round revenues afloat in the unpretentious outpost community. As for Haller’s own affiliation with the Lions, it was intentional — based on his research of their impressive track record. He cites that a remarkable 98 cents from each dollar the group generates is returned to the community.

Haller appears undaunted by the approximately 40,000 square foot community center with minimal staff, reveling in its completion for less than 20 percent of the original architect’s cost estimates. On a recent tour, he showcased their impressive wall of ice skates, which he surmises are the most extensive offering of skates in the whole state, recently upgraded thanks to a Rasmuson Foundation grant.

Unique to the second-story banquet facility is the option to bring your own catering staff, a rarity in the the hospitality business. The full commercial kitchen is in keeping with a utilitarian feel throughout the facility, from the offices to the locker rooms. There are no gilded, publicly-funded murals, no inexplicable expenses. No frills, no excuses, no resting on yesterday’s successes. As quickly as he describes the newest asset, he’s listing the incoming needs, which today include audio system upgrades and a wall-to-wall partition, which will allow two groups to book the upstairs area simultaneously.

Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska as part of a large Irish Catholic entrepreneurial family, Haller saw hard work and philanthropy as naturally intersecting. He recalls working for his father from the time he could sort and lift. He also witnessed the pitfalls of politics, and is wary of the potential distortion of public clout. He has remained neutral on hot-button topics like municipal incorporation (which Big Lake has voted down three times in the past ten years, by a progressively wider margin each time), deferring to the good of the order he sees unfolding before him. He recognizes the disparity in recreational land owners who retreat to Big Lake and its environs for leisure, and their relatively poorer neighbors who number about 3,500 full time residents. Haller reports that 70 percent of the town’s 400 elementary school students are eligible for free and reduced lunch programs, belying a population with little discretionary income. Haller keeps the reality of these families at the forefront of his decision-making, and is committed to the best outcome for the majority of Big Lake.

As we strolled the hallways and Haller inspected dasher boards slated for replacement, his attention was turning towards prepping the outdoor ice for the Scotty Gomez Foundation’s Pond Hockey Classic.

“We’ve got over twenty rinks to get ready for pond hockey coming up soon,” he said.

Just another day at the office for Big Lake’s one-man booster.

Editor’s Note: Tiffany Borges is a freelance writer living in Wasilla whose columns focus on the people who make the Mat-Su Valley and Southcentral Alaska so unique. She blogs at www.parksandglenn.com.