Somerton wraps up remodeling of community center
SOMERTON – Depending on the pandemic, the newly remodeled Somerton Community Center would be ready to reopen as soon as October or November for public use, the city’s parks and recreation director says.
The parks and recreation department recently completed a nearly two month remodeling project that includes resurfacing the basketball court, repainting of the interior walls and installation of a new scoreboard.
The work, done by Somerton municipal employees to save labor costs, represented the first major renovation in more than a decade of the building that opened in 1997 as a venue for city-sponsored recreational events and programs.
Also known as the City Gym, the building located on Main Street is lacking only repainting and restriping of the floor, said Jesus Meza, Somerton’s parks and recreation director.
With the COVID-19 pandemic having forced the city to suspend recreation programs, Meza’s department used the time to upgrade the center. Meza estimated the department spend about $4,000 on construction materials, but saved between $15,000 and $20,000 by doing the work itself rather than hiring a contractor.
Among recreational programs the city plans to host in the refurbished center are table tennis tournaments for youths and basketball and volleyball leagues for adults, he said.
Meza said the center could open as soon as October or later, depending on when the risk of the coronavirus has diminished enough to allow the city to resume recreational programs.
The city also plans eventually to make the building available for rental to local organziations and families for for social functions.