The need for more gym space for basketball is just one of many reasons Athens officials are hoping to build a new recreation center in two to three years.

“We’re making plans to look at the possibility of building a new recreation center with double gyms with the opportunity to grow with the community,” Mayor Ronnie Marks told The News Courier Tuesday. “We have a record number of kids playing basketball and other activities.”

The mayor told City Council members during their regular meeting Monday the city is in the preliminary stages of the endeavor.

He told The News Courier Tuesday the proposed center would be built just north of the Sportsplex on U.S. 72 on land the city bought from Tri-Green Tractor a few years ago.

The need

Parks and Recreation Director Ben Wiley said a larger recreation center is needed because the population has outgrown the existing 25,000-square-foot facility off U.S. 72 next to Athens High School.

“The basketball recreation program is growing and we only have one gym,” Wiley said. “We can’t continue to grow and have only one gym.”

He said the recreation center also needs more amenities.

“If they don’t play basketball, then we have to send them elsewhere, outside of the rec center — the walking track or elsewhere,” he said.

Preliminary plans include a double gymnasium, indoor walking track, cardio-fitness room, racquetball court, family media room or game room, meeting rooms for everything from arts and crafts to dulcimer classes, and a multipurpose room for Zumba and karate classes, Wiley said.

There is, so far, no plan for an indoor swimming pool.

Status

Marks said city officials have met with two or three architectural groups to determine where the city is going with the proposed recreation center over the next two to three years.

“We’re trying to get some conceptual layouts or renderings,” said Marks, who was planning to meet with another architectural group Tuesday afternoon.

Wiley has been working with them to design what the city wants in a new facility, the mayor said.

“We’re trying to narrow it from $20 million (in wishes) to what is affordable to the community,” Marks said.

Cost

A new recreation center would cost an estimated $7 to $9 million, depending on the amenities chosen, said City Clerk Annette Barnes Threet.

She said the city would pay for the recreation center, if approved by the City Council, with proceeds from a bond issue.

“We would likely structure the issue for a payback of 25 to 30 years so we could fund it with general fund revenue,” she said.

Old rec

Marks said the current recreation center is on Athens school property.

Wiley said the schools are interested in using the building, which he said was in “decent” shape despite being 35 to 40 years old.

“We put a roof on it 8 to 10 years ago,” he said.

Wiley looks at a newer, larger, more diverse recreation center as a way to use tax dollars on something many residents can enjoy.