By Cate Wachholz
A five-acre Rockbridge County Recreation Center is closer to becoming a reality.
The county Board of Supervisors and the School Board are talking about plans for a proposed $13 million rec center that would include flex courts for basketball, pickleball and volleyball, a weight training area, and a walking track among other amenities.
In July, Spectrum Design of Roanoke completed a study requested by the Rockbridge County Public Schools.
“For literally 10-plus years we’ve known that we had a shortage of gym space in the county, certainly for our schools and all of our after-school activities and things we do,” said Dr. Phillip Thompson, schools superintendent. “It’s been very tight trying to fit all that in.”
County Administrator Spencer Suter says he plans to meet with Lexington’s city manager, Tom Carroll, to share the ideas for the project. The supervisors and school board will continue to meet to hash out details. Suter said the soonest a vote could occur would be in November.
Conceptional drawings were presented to the school board, supervisors and Lexington City Council at a joint meeting at Maury River Middle School on Sept. 17.
The rec center would be located across Greenhouse Road on the Rockbridge County High School campus. It would be built at the location of the existing tennis courts and a gravel parking lot.
Since March, the supervisors have included the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization, which provides programs for children and adults in the county, Lexington and Buena Vista.
The rec center would be divided into a school side and a community side.
On the school side, the plans call for a basketball court and a flex space on the main floor, which also would include a weight training area and space for other activities, such as cheerleading.
On the community side, the proposed rec center’s main floor also would contain two other basketball courts.
The building’s upper level would house offices for RARO, a community room and an elevated indoor walking track.
Thompson said a new rec center would provide the schools with space for physical education classes and after-school activities that are held at schools all over the county because of a lack of facilities at the high school.
“We won’t have to ship kids all over the county to practice basketball or volleyball,” he said.
Thompson said he hopes a new rec center next to the high school would benefit the students beyond PE classes and sports teams.
“I’ve had conversations for years about the need for the community to have things to do and places to go to exercise and be fit,” he said. “It’s great for our kids because it helps them learn about a good fitness lifestyle and being able to have a place where they don’t have to travel for 20 miles to do that.”
Chad Coffey, RARO’s executive director, said the organization needs access to a rec center.
“We’ve been growing over the last several many years, and there’s still a ton of opportunity out there that we can’t capitalize on due to infrastructure,” he said. “Currently, we have zero indoor facilities available to us during the normal workday … so this would open a ton of doors for programming to run during the normal business day.”
Thompson said he’s excited about the possibility of a rec center. “It just fits so many needs that we have in our community,” he said. “It’s exciting to think that we’re on the cusp and perhaps it could happen.”