Wellman Activity Center opens

By Andy Hallman

The JOURNAL

    The Parkside Activities Center and Sunrise Child Care Facility in Wellman opened its doors for the very first time Sunday afternoon for an open house. The opening marks the culmination of nearly two years of construction and $6 million that went into the project.

    The activities center features a number of amenities. On the west side of the building there is a gymnasium with six baskets. Around the outside on the court on the second level is a walking track. Also on the second story is an area for weight-lifting that has 12 machines and a collection of free weights. There are four treadmills and four ellipticals.  

    There is a game room that offers two billiard tables, vending machines and a Nintendo Wii video game system. On the east side of the building is the Sunrise Child Care Facility. There is also a banquet room that has 30 round tables and 180 chairs.

    Wellman Mayor Ryan Miller said the opening of the activities center ?has been a long time coming.? He said the cost of the project is just shy of $6 million and that most of the money came from grants. The city received a Riverboat Foundation grant in the amount of $2 million in 2006. The city got a $400,000 Community Development Block grant, a Vision Iowa grant for $800,000 and a USDA grant for $400,000.

    The voters of Wellman passed a bond referendum in April 2008 to provide $1.25 million in the form of a local option sales tax. The city also received $800,000 from private donors. Construction on the building began in May 2008.

    Miller said the Washington YMCA is renting the gymnasium, the weightlifting and aerobic sections on the second floor and the game room on the first floor. The Washington Y has an agreement with Mid-Prairie School District to let the school use the gymnasium for some basketball games and for some practice sessions. As a matter of fact, there is a junior varsity game scheduled for Monday night in the activities center.

    ?Gym space is limited at the schools, so Mid-Prairie is able to utilize half the gym after school,? said Miller. ?If the boys and girls want to practice at the same time, one team has to practice at 6:30 a.m. When one of the basketball teams is practicing here, the other half of the court will be open to Y members.?

    Miller said the banquet room will be available to rent and that he expects it to host wedding parties and other functions in the future.

For the full article, see our Jan. 18 print edition.