RIDGEWAY – A ribbon cutting was held for the new recreation center in Ridgeway on Wednesday, and it will be open to the public starting Monday, Feb. 5, says Fairfield County Parks and Recreation Director Lucas Vance.
Initially, for the month of February, the center will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with the gym available for walking from 10 a.m. – 12 noon and alternating daily between basketball and pickleball from 12 noon – 3 p.m.
Lucas is also seeking input from those who will use the facility about future hours, programs, and scheduling.
“We’re excited, because I think the community has really been looking forward to this,” says Vance.
The new building was built with $2.5 million from the county’s $99 million settlement with Dominion over the failed nuclear power plant, the rec center sits on 4 – 5 acres of a 30-acre site the county owns on Highway 21, south of Ridgeway at the intersection of Small Wood Road. The county recycling center is located on the parcel.
Moses Bell, who was county council chair at the time the center was initiated, said plans were for the recreation area to include covered tennis courts, a gym, outdoor sports fields, meeting areas, exercise areas, a walking trail, a computer room, commercial kitchen and possibly a library and police substation. However, when bids came in over the $2.5 million budget, much of the plan was omitted, including 700 square feet of space.
The Voice has not been able to learn the exact cost of the center. In addition to the $2.5 million budgeted funds, $400,000 was approved by Dominion to be moved to the rec center project from funds originally designated for industrial park grading. Approximately $100,000 of that money was used to add a floor in the gym. Luck mining donated approximately $30,000, and Sen. Mike Fanning acquired approximately $30,000 for the center from state earmark money. The contractor donated the walking trail – approximately $25,000 – in memory of the late William Coleman, project engineer for the center.
“The finished rec center contains a gymnasium, a small kitchen and meeting room,” Vance said. “There is also a quarter-mile walking track that goes around the property and a large green space, just say, whether you want to throw the ball with your child or you want to set up a neighborhood kickball game or whatever,” he said.
“You’ve got a full court for basketball with two goals that have height adjusters that will also allow our younger [kids] to play games there, and then, we have lines on the floor for three pickleball courts,” Vance says.
Vance says the hope for the new Ridgeway Recreation Center is to offer classes, making use of fitness equipment currently available – medicine balls, dumbbells, resistance bands, and yoga mats – and potentially other events that the community expresses interest in, whether those are fitness-related activities like Zumba, yoga, and core cardio or senior activities like bingo, gardening, or chair exercise.
Vance said he expects the center’s kitchen and fitness areas to be fully equipped at a later date.
He encourages members of the community to fill out a short 11-question survey to share their preferences on preferred hours and programs for the facility going forward.
“General use of the facility will be free. Residents and non-residents alike can use the facility. It’s open to the public,” Vance says, “though when classes are held, they will likely cost $20 a month for weekly participants.”
The Ridgeway Recreation Center is located about two miles outside of town at 1900 U.S. Highway 21. A staff member will be on site when the center is open, and can be reached at (803) 337-7358.
The open schedule will likely change month by month depending on public input, Vance says, and likely settle into a more permanent routine of hours and programs in about three months.
“Even though this project is complete construction-wise, there are still a lot of things that are going to have to settle in, as far as the schedule, calendar, and what the community wants.”