Mid Rivers Newsmagazine News

Mid Rivers Newsmagazine is St. Charles County's exclusive direct-mailed community newspaper.

St. Charles looking to add fitness, recreation center

By Amy Armour

If all goes as planned, the city of St. Charles will finally be home to a brand new, state-of-the-art, barrier-free fitness, aquatic and recreation center in 2010. The city of St. Charles and ShowMe Aquatics & Fitness, a mission-based organization, have teamed up to start the construction process for a recreational facility that will allow people of all ages and disabilities to play together.

“It will be a state-of-the-art project that benefits not only city residents, but also the elderly and handicapped,” said City Councilman Ron Stivison. “We look forward to helping out all kinds of people.”

Bringing a community center into the city has been an idea that has been unsuccessfully discussed for years.

“The consensus of people want it... but there have been obstacles in how to finance it,” said City Councilman Richard Veit.

But this time the city thinks it’s found its financing mechanism.

The $38 million project would be funded as a joint effort between the city and ShowMe Aquatics & Fitness. ShowMe Aquatics would provide $10 million, in addition to building an endowment fund to ensure future services.

The city of St. Charles will ask voters on Aug. 5 to approve a bond issue (Proposition C) that would authorize up to $30 million General Obligation Bonds.

Veit said the bond issue would not impose any new tax on residents, but authorize bonds to be paid off through the city’s general revenue fund.

“I think it’s been an excellent collaboration between public and private partners,” said Veit. “It’s the best and most economic way of having a community center.”

If approved, the 125,000-square-foot Community Freedom Center would be located on the former K-Mart site off Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, adjacent to I-70. The new community center would displace the children’s restaurant and arcade Chuck E. Cheese, but Veit hopes the business would find another location within the city.

“I think there’s a goal in place to have Chuck E. Cheese remain in the city,” Veit said.

The Community Freedom Center would include a 16,000-square-foot fitness center that would feature state-of-the-art equipment and specialized program areas for all ages and abilities. The community center would also include an indoor water park, the largest indoor track in the region, four multi-temperature pools, two full-size gymnasiums and one auxiliary gymnasium for indoor soccer and roller hockey. In addition, there would be dedicated senior and teen activity centers, a leisure lounge and café, community meeting rooms and children’s outdoor play areas.

“St. Charles residents have consistently told us they want a community center for the city,” said Mayor Patti York. “We are excited to announce this landmark project today, not only for the people of St. Charles, but for the entire St. Louis region. We believe this state-of-the-art facility will become the benchmark for all future community centers built across the United States.”

ShowMe Fitness & Aquatics, whose mission is “to promote health, fitness and quality of life in an environment that is accommodating, accessible and barrier-free as possible” would manage the facility.If approved by voters, preliminary work is expected to begin in late 2008 with construction of the Community Freedom Center slated to start in 2009. A grand opening is already planned for late summer 2010.