City provides progress report on Westside Recreation Center’s first few months

The first few months of use have brought strong crowds to the city’s new Westside Recreation Center.

“There’s been a lot of changes happening,” said Brett Kollars, assistant director of the Parks & Recreation Department. “We moved at an incredible pace to open up our doors as the year turned, something we’re incredibly proud of.”

The city bought and assumed operation of the former Sanford Wellness Center at 8701 W. 32nd St. to start this year. Since then, there have been 3,721 active passes, or people with a pass to the recreation center. Passes include children, adults, couples, families, seniors and veterans. There also are options for day passes.

The average daily attendance is 700 people. Sixty-two percent of passes are at a standard rate, and 38 percent are at a reduced rate, made up largely of seniors and families.

The group that set rates came up with a “flexible, accessible schedule,” Kollars said. “We’re finding a lot of value in that in so many different ways.”

The mix of people being served by the Westside Recreation Center looks different from when it was managed by Sanford Health through the end of last year.

“We’re seeing changes in the audience we’re serving in relation to the previous operation, and we’re seeing them in a positive way that aligns with what we were striving for,” Kollars said, adding that while there’s a concentration of usage from west-side residents, the center is drawing from a farther distance than it did previously.

The center is striving for a balanced multigenerational offering of programs, including bumper cars, outdoor activities and arts and crafts areas in meeting rooms, he said.

“Pickleball is a big draw. We have a steady crew over there most every morning of the week,” Kollars said, adding that senior fitness classes also are popular.

The city will continue to build out programs based on audience interest, he said.

Bingo, a treasure hunt in the pool and events for families will be among the summer program offerings, he said.

Construction, including cosmetic changes like paint and carpet, was done early, and the court is being refinished for gym, racquetball and class space. A temporary indoor playground was installed, and the parking lot will be further repaired, as well as the roof.

The city is exploring different designs for a more permanent indoor playground that will serve a broader age range of kids. Funding for it will depend on the other two projects.

The plan also is to expand adult leagues.

The city is recovering about 85 percent of its costs through revenue.

“We’re performing healthy right now,” Kollars said. “We’re still growing. We’re learning lessons. Everything is not rainbows and butterflies. Our incident reporting process has been tried several times.”

Staff members have been trained on deescalation and safety, he said. Afternoons and evenings draw a larger teenager crowd that also brings “teenage behavior,” Kollars said, adding that the parks department is encouraging police presence as it does at other venues.

Summer is still an unknown in terms of how crowds will trend, he said.

Some lessons learned in design also will be incorporated into the design of the future recreation center on the east side at Frank Olson Park, Kollars said.