A long-awaited Valley Center community project will open its doors early in 2025. City administrator Brent Clark said Valley Center’s 44,000 square-foot recreation and aquatics center is “well underway” and is slated to open in January. “We’re starting to see everything come together,” he said. Clark said the center, located near Valley Center Middle School on 800 N. Meridian Ave., includes a fitness center, a gymnasium with a court for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, a children’s area, service offices and a 25-meter, six-lane competition pool, which will be used by the community and the Valley Center High School swim team. The center is connected to the far southwest corner of Harvest Place, a 130-acre development involving Lou Robelli. Clark said the center is part of the 30-acre stretch of land the city bought from Robelli. Clark said McCownGowdon Construction, the project builder, is working on putting up sidewalls and installing sheetrock in the facility. “The gym is taking shape. The sheetrock is going around the walls, the children’s area right now is getting stuff put into it as far as the sheetrock and kind of laying out where the kid’s area is,” Clark said. Clark said the city’s recreation commission will operate the facility. He added the recreation commission’s Blake Penniston is in talks and has signed contracts for equipment while he explores options for business opportunities at the facility. He said the next step would be working on pouring the pool deck, installing HVAC systems and general cleanup of the site.
Source: Wichita Business Journal
