The Shawano Recreation Center is set to reopen in less than three months, and the Shawano Parks and Recreation Commission got a chance to see the latest work done in the facility during its May 20 meeting.
Parks and recreation director Matt Hendricks told the commission the center will reopen in mid-August with a planned ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 12. He said 8Pine, the company managing the $5.25 million renovation project, needed three weeks to inspect the building and make sure it’s ready for occupancy.
Hendricks said that the pool is remaining the same size but looks better because of the amenities that are coming with it, including furniture for families and others to watch during swim lessons or pool sessions.
“They’re going to make life in the pool better,” he said. “Visibility along the pool area wasn’t great.”
Hendricks also showed off the area where the computer lab is being set up, noting there’s a movable wall to make the room bigger for special events, and all the furniture can be rolled around depending upon the occasion. He noted the area can also allow for winter events to take place through the center.
“Think of library computer use — applying for jobs, coming in to do research,” Hendricks said. “It could be for high school kids doing a chem project. It could be a 4-H club that’s wanting to meet. There are going to be two setups like that in the building.”
He added that the area can be used separately from the rest of the building so that, if there’s an event on a Sunday when the recreation center is normally closed, the space can still be used with the remainder of the recreation center still locked up.
“It doesn’t open up basketball games or indoor soccer, but it opens up art classes, and it opens up yoga classes,” Hendricks said. “It opens up anything you can do with moderate movement.”
Locker room facilities are still in progress with individual shower facilities expected to be installed soon, ending the era of group bathing, according to Hendricks.
A multipurpose room and the new athletic facilities are mostly set up, but they’re currently being used for construction equipment storage while the rest of the building is being worked on. Partially finished is a space for a gas fireplace to be used by the community in the winter months.
“Whatever you knew us for, we’ll have — whether it’s racquetball or swimming or lifting weights,” Hendricks said. “The part that we’re excited to add is the social connection: ‘I’ve got an hour to kill before my next meeting, so I’m going to play someone in a game of cribbage,’ or, ‘Hey, I’ve got to meet with a couple of nonprofit people, so let’s meet at the rec.’ That’s what we hope to be.”
Hendricks was excited to show off some of the furniture and decorations that will be used in the new facility, including the front desk, which was built by city staff from the hardwood flooring of the former racquetball courts. To create a brand new desk would have cost the city $58,000, he said.
“We’re into it for maybe $10,000 instead of $60,000, and we have the excitement that our own people built it,” Hendricks said. “That’s cool.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Most of the exterior work on the Shawano Recreation Center has been completed, with much of the remaining work taking place inside. The city of Shawano plans to reopen the building in mid-August.
(Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Matt Hendricks, left, Shawano parks and recreation director, talks in the hallway of the Shawano Recreation Center with parks and recreation commission members Nickiann Meyers and Seth Mailahn about the improvements being made to the facility during a tour May 20. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
