Community center nearly done
Township plans to take over building in July; soft, grand openings in August
Three years ago, the southeast corner of Stump and Horsham roads in Montgomery Township contained little more than grass, dirt, and pieces of utility lines left over from a never-completed development.
Now, if you stand in the middle of the nearly-complete main athletic courts inside the township’s long-planned Community and Recreation Center, it’s not hard to imagine seniors strolling around the second floor walking track as parents cheer on kids playing countless sports on the center’s floor.
“We can play volleyball in here, badminton, floor hockey, indoor soccer, futsal, and whatever other events we can come up with — pickleball, there will be pickleball in here too,” said Brian Forman, the township’s director of recreation and the community center.
As he spoke, Forman’s voice echoed off of the concrete floor slab — soon to be covered with a wooden athletic floor displaying the Montgomery Township logo
— and between several basketball hoops with the rims still enclosed in boxes. As contractors packed up their tools and left the center Friday afternoon, Forman pointed out the curtain that will divide both sports courts as it hangs beneath several skylights in the center’s main gymnasium.
“The net comes down, and there’s a solid part that goes about six feet up. You can’t really see what’s going on on the other side, but the top part is mesh, it’s not sound proof,” Forman said.
“We’ve been in here with the lights off, and really at this time of day, with the skylights and the windows, you don’t even need the lights. It’s very bright in here. It’s a great gym,” he said.
Inside the center, its main entrance sends visitors straight into the main gym, with a child care room and staff offices to the right and a staircase to the elevated walking track to the left. Three main fitness rooms and youth and senior lounge rooms are in various stages of completion, with some floor panels nearing their final destinations and ceilings being enclosed as utilities are placed. Cardboard covers parts of the second floor walking track, which will be open to all township residents and features two lanes, inside for slower and outside for faster walkers and runners.
“Any resident can use the track during operating hours. They do not have to pay for a membership; they do have to prove your residency, but any resident can use that track any hour we’re open,” Forman said. Memberships to the center are now on sale, and those who buy early will receive free months based on when they buy; different prices are available for singleparent families, adults, seniors and youths, and more
information is available on the township website www. MontgomeryTwp.org or on the new website dedicated to the center www.MontCRC.com.
For the record, 10 laps around the walking track will equal one mile, and a full circuit on the outdoor path around the center and its parking lots will equal a half-mile, Forman said.
The center’s main fitness room is located at the northwest corner of the building, overlooking the main entrance and parking lot, and in the next few weeks will be filled with exercise equipment, televisions, and a staff workstation for a fitness spotter.
“We’ll have cardio equipment all facing out. They’ll have TVs and Internet ac- cess, and you’ll be able to stand and look out here — I think you can see Doylestown Hospital out here, somewhere out that way,” he said, gesturing north from the room’s windows, “and I know you can see the (Montgomery) Mall over this way,” to the west.
That room also overlooks the center’s front l awn, which is largely covered with straw now and in time will grow into a grassy lawn area for outdoor games and concerts. That lawn will likely take a full spring and summer growing season to reach its final appearance, and another part of the center will not be ready on day one: the outdoor spray park and playground on its northeast corner will likely not be completed until fall, Forman said.
Nevertheless, each week brings contractors closer to completing the center, and the building should be handed over from the contractor to the township around the start of July. A job fair tonight will be the next step in filling out the center’s staff, and once staff and construction are finalized by the end of June, furniture and equipment will be moved into the building so employees can train through July and be ready for a targeted Aug. 1 soft opening to the public.
“Our expected soft opening is Aug. 1, and the grand opening will be Aug. 29: you’ll be able to go everywhere in the building, we’ll have food, games, all that kind of stuff,” Forman said.
“People can come out and try different classes, group exercise instructors are coming to give demo classes. It’ll be a great day out here,” he said.
For more on Montgomery Township’s community and recreation center and its events, call (267) 6497200 or visit www.MontCRC.com; for more on the township and its activities visit www.MontgomeryTwp.org or follow @Monttwp on Twitter.