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The new Truckee Community Center, under construction, on Wednesday. The center is set to open Dec. 5.
TRUCKEE, Calif. — Town residents may be in for an early Christmas present this winter.
With construction on the Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District's new community center about six weeks ahead of schedule, officials this week said the 40,000-square-foot center just north of Interstate 80 on Donner Pass Road will open Dec. 5.
“It looks like we'll have the building done in October, and it will take about six weeks to move in,” said Steve Randall, district general manager. “Things have been going smoothly and they were able to work all through the winter.”
The district plans to complement all the normal programs it runs with newer activities at the larger center, which will include a gymnasium, classrooms, offices and community rooms, Randall said.
“We've never had a gym of our own, so we'll be able to do indoor soccer and things like that,” Randall said.
The gym will also include an elevated running track, exercise equipment and climbing and bouldering walls, Randall said. It will have 1,000-person capacity, creating larger space for community events like the Rotary Crab Feed and Senior Citizens Bingo Night.
With construction on the Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District's new community center about six weeks ahead of schedule, officials this week said the 40,000-square-foot center just north of Interstate 80 on Donner Pass Road will open Dec. 5.
“It looks like we'll have the building done in October, and it will take about six weeks to move in,” said Steve Randall, district general manager. “Things have been going smoothly and they were able to work all through the winter.”
The district plans to complement all the normal programs it runs with newer activities at the larger center, which will include a gymnasium, classrooms, offices and community rooms, Randall said.
“We've never had a gym of our own, so we'll be able to do indoor soccer and things like that,” Randall said.
The gym will also include an elevated running track, exercise equipment and climbing and bouldering walls, Randall said. It will have 1,000-person capacity, creating larger space for community events like the Rotary Crab Feed and Senior Citizens Bingo Night.
Ahead of time, under budget
Along with being ahead of schedule, the community center is about $6 million under the original budget, coming in at about $18 million.Randall attributed the cost savings to hitting the market at the right time, selling bonds September 2007.
“If we went to the market today, we couldn't fund it,” Randall said.
The excess $6 million can potentially be used to turn the existing community center downtown on Churh Street into a performing arts center that would seat 250 to 300 people, Randall said. While the idea still in the planning stage, the district could start construction as soon as next summer.
Farther out in the future, an aquatics center located at the new community center site is being studied by the district board.
The aquatics center could include a lap pool along with recreational amenities like water slides or a lazy river, Randall said.
“That would have to go to election — people would be taxing themselves for that,” Randall said.
