By HARRY MINIUM
By Harry Minium
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK
A few years ago, the typical public recreation center in Norfolk was a cramped gym with a few meeting rooms that served only the immediate neighborhood.
If you wanted to swim or use workout facilities or racquetball courts, you had to go to Virginia Beach.
Now, thanks largely to a course set by City Manager Regina V.K. Williams and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, recreation services in Norfolk are beginning to resemble those offered by its neighbor.
They won’t open without some difficult choices, however.
Norfolk has a total of 24 recreation centers, some of them needing repairs worth millions . City leaders must now figure out which centers to renovate and which ones to close. In addition to three larger recreation centers that are now either under way or will soon begin construction, Norfolk officials must also determine where to build more.
The city plans to hire a consultant to recommend answers to those questions. A report should go to the City Council next spring, said Darrell Crittendon, director of the city’s recreation department.
Councilman W. Randy Wright said a look at a city map tells him where to expand next – Tarrallton Park.
All the city’s large recreation centers and all but one pool are located in the southern part of the city.
Vice Mayor Anthony Burfoot wants a pool at Norview.
Residents in Ingleside, meanwhile, are lobbying for a rec center there.
Councilman Don Williams said it’s important to keep the city’s youths in mind when deciding on future locations because many have limited transportation.
“If we close one, we need to make sure the kids in that neighborhood can get to another center,” Williams said.
City leaders began studying the issue about four years ago, when Norfolk purchased the Jewish Community Center just south of Wards Corner for $6.2 million.
It was transformed into the Norfolk Fitness and Wellness Center.
At 92,000 square feet, it’s slightly larger than most of the rec centers in Virginia Beach. It has indoor and outdoor pools, workout rooms, a regulation-size basketball court, racquetball and tennis courts, meeting spaces and soccer fields.
“It’s the most comprehensive facility we have in the city,” said Councilman Barclay C. Winn .
Three more of its kind are on the way near Norview High School, Old Dominion University and in Broad Creek .
The new Norview center will offer a full-size basketball court, exercise facilities with state-of-the-art aerobic and weight machines, computer labs and a media center that can show movies, Crittendon said.
The Lamberts Point facility will offer more of an X-Games theme – it will have a 25-foot rock climbing wall and zip-line facilities, in addition to a gym and workout facilities. The Kroc Center, a $30 million, 100,000-square-foot community center, also will house an indoor water park .
The offerings in the centers differ because city officials asked their surrounding communities what they wanted in the facilities before they designed them.
The city also is upgrading its swimming facilities. T here currently are three indoor pools – at Northside Park, the wellness center and the Huntersville Recreation Center.
Two more are coming. Work will soon begin on the 21,000-square- foot, $7.7 million Southside Aquatic Center in Berkley.
And about $9 million has been budgeted for a Therapeutic Recreation Center to be built near Lake Taylor Hospital. It would have a pool and workout facility and likely would provide specialized services for the elderly and people with disabilities .
Crittendon also has overseen the addition of new softball fields at Northside Park, the revamping of Shoop Park and an expansion at Tarrallton Park.
“We’re doing some wonderful things for our citizens,” said Councilman Paul R. Riddick .
Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, [email protected]
planned openings
In December, the $7.9 million Norview Community Center, at 27,000 square feet – the second-largest in the city – will open near Norview High School.
A year later, the $7 million Lamberts Point Community Center is to open near Old Dominion University.
Approximately a year or two after that, officials say, the Kroc Center, a $30 million, 100,000-square-foot community center, will open in Broad Creek. It will be largely funded and run by the Salvation Army, but the city is providing land and millions of dollars. It will be the city’s most comprehensive rec center, with an indoor water park among the amenities offered.
The Norview and Lamberts Point centers will be about a third the size of the four larger rec centers in Virginia Beach.
Originally published by BY HARRY MINIUM.
(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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