SEASIDE — The Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board of Directors voted unanimously Tuesday to support a November bond for expansion of the aquatic facility on Broadway.

Plans for the $15 million to $18 million bond include indoor gym space, fitness rooms and enhanced youth programming areas.

“The time has come that the district take action to serve the entire population and be able to offer a more robust fitness and wellness program, through the creation or acquisition of more indoor recreation space,” Skyler Archibald, the district’s executive director, wrote in the district’s budget document, distributed at Tuesday’s meeting.

The bond will be voted on by residents of the independent taxing district, who include most residents of the Seaside School District, excluding Cannon Beach and Gearhart.

The goal of the expansion is to provide indoor recreation space for the community, Archibald said. With the relocation of Broadway Middle School to a new campus in the Southeast Hills, the recreation district could lose even more space.

“There is no real indoor recreation space for public use, and when the school is built, there will be even less for general user groups and individuals,” Archibald said. “We’re really excited to move this forward with this plan.”

Board member Michael Hinton asked fellow board members to “do our homework” to analyze district leases with the city, and to make sure rights of way are clearly delineated and deeded. “I’m in favor of fine-tuning the plan and getting our ducks in a row.”

The district was formed in 1969 and the Sunset pool opened in 1978. Since that time, programming has expanded to a fitness center, community center, senior lunch program, preschool and playing fields. The district employs seven full-time staff, with an annual budget of $2.8 million.

Last spring, district board members discussed the possibility of expansion, either funded through a bond or system development charges — the fees paid by builders to the city for essential infrastructure.

Over the past three years, the district has invested about $60,000 in consultants for building expansion.

Board members met at a workshop early this month, supporting a base plan rather than an enhanced proposal that would have called for the purchase of all or a portion of Broadway Middle School.

The enhanced plan would have added between $7 million and $9 million to the proposal, not including costs for the purchase of school district buildings.

The base plan, prepared by consultants Ballard King with Opsis Architecture, will add a second level to the aquatic facility on Broadway. If approved by voters, the facility will see a new entrance, gym, preschool rooms, an administrative office, lobby expansion, party room and storage. According to architects, the expanded facility could be completed by 2021.

Board member Jeremy Mills said while he had some misgivings about the timing of the bond, the project’s benefits outweighed his concerns. “I think this project is so very needed. I’m definitely on board.”

Board members Mills, Hinton, Veronica Russell and Edward Hassan joined board president Alan Evans in voting for the bond proposal.

“We’ll deal with curveballs as they come,” Archibald said. “It’s nearly impossible for us to make every right choice along the way, but as long as I have your support moving forward, I’m hopeful that next month I can provide the timeline and some of the actions that need to take place.”

He hopes to have bond language finalized by the board’s July meeting, he said.