by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — It was a big day for the Wellington Recreation Commission. A groundbreaking was held for a new addition for a rec center Tuesday morning on the west lot adjacent to the current WRC Center.

Wellington board member Hankie Holefelder announced today to more than 30 well wishers that this was a culmination of a 20 year search for improved rec facilities for the community. The target date for the opening the new addition is set for the first week of April, 2015.

Then the soil was turned by board members Holdfelder, Betty Zeka, Matt Barton, and Tami McCue; WRC director Cody White, former WRC Director Kenny Everhart, and WRC assistant director Marcine Goodrum; and architect Martin Hanney of Hanney & Associates. Applause followed.

White said Caro Construction of Wichita will be building the new addition and he expects it to be a 300-day process. In November, the WRC board had hoped that the construction process would have started in January, but that the bid process took longer than expected, White said.

“I know when we started looking at building here in Wellington, I didn’t have gray hair,” Hanney joked. 

As far back as 1994, a proposal for a new WRC facility was featured in the Wellington Daily News. Since then, the WRC has looked at various locations throughout the community, and even brought one proposal to the city voters in November 2008 to refurbish Memorial Auditorium into a rec center.

That proposal was soundly defeated by almost a 5-to-1 margin.

Since then the board has looked at several options including building a new facility or moving into and remodeling other facilities like the old Apple Market building, the First Southern Baptist Church, Tibbs Furniture building and the Wellington Junior High building.

Members of the WRC board and staff at ground breaking from left: Martin Hanney, Hankie Holefelder, Cody White, Betty Zeka, Matt Barton, Tami McCue, Marcine Goodrum and Ken Everhart.

In the end, upon the recommendation of Hanney, the board decided expanding the current facility was the most economically feasible option, White said back in 2012.

The new two-story rec facility addition at the 200 block of West Lincoln will include a new fitness center, locker rooms, conference rooms, art rooms, and offices. The current facility will also get some renovation.

In November 2013,  the Wellington City Council acted as “guarantor” which directed the Wellington Public Building Commission to issue 20 year bonds not to exceed $990,000 for a $1.89 million Wellington Recreation Commission Center expansion. This came at no expense to the city, but will be paid through the existing 5 mill levies designed to the WRC over the next 20 years.

The architectural drawing of the facility is as follows (For full size renderings of the drawings click here) :

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