by Andy Thurman
Since November 2019, the Park District Staff and Board have been envisioning updates to the 40+ year old Community Center. This process started with a Master Plan Committee and needs assessments, was tabled during Covid, and then reimagined again in 2022. The Master Plan is a working document where staff and Board go to for goal setting, future needs, community input, collaboration, IT and more. The Master Plan was approved in December of 2022 and is a 10-year document.
One of the major pieces of this Master Plan was looking at the Community Center. This facility opened in 1983 and since then has had an Indoor Pool addition (1996) and weightroom/program area addition (2001).
Part of the plan was to hire an architect to help give a vision of an updated building and a phased approach. This vision came with community input sessions, surveys and interviews with Board and staff. This conceptual plan has updates to all areas of the building and some amazing Wishlist items as well.
The first phase of this plan was to add-on office area and storage to move staff out of central locations and create one storage area. This addition to the building has now opened up the pieces needed to allow for other updates and program spaces that are needed now and in the future. The office addition will house administrative staff and marketing, four total offices. There was office space that had previously been closed space and another that had a leaky backflow preventor running across the floor. This will help centralize operations. This addition also includes a meeting room for trainings, board meetings and eventually rented out for businesses.
A new storage area connected to the gymnasium consolidates previously scattered storage rooms into a single location. The addition of a garage door improves access for activities such as bounce house events and skate distribution, while also providing direct exterior access for transporting equipment to offsite programs.
Looking ahead, additional improvements under consideration this year include the development of a teen space, a toddler area, an updated sauna, and an additional program or rental room.
Funding for the first phase has been supported over the past decade through a trust held by the Geneseo Park District Foundation, along with local grant funding and in-kind donations.
The full Master Plan, including conceptual drawings, is available on the Park District website. Future phases of the project are expected to include additional opportunities for community input. If you ever have any questions please feel free to reach out to the Geneseo Park District Executive Director Andy Thurman at athurman@geneseparkdistrict.org.