By Nathan Ham
A public hearing scheduled for August 21 at 5:30 p.m. will be happening as the Watauga County Board of Commissioners is considering authorizing the county to proceed in acquiring the financing needed for a new community recreation center.
The meeting will take place at the commissioners’ boardroom at the Watauga County Administration Building located at 814 W. King Street.
According to the notice released by John Welch, the chairman of the Watauga County Board of Commissioners, the principal amount of the financial contract will not exceed $20 million.
The discussions of a new recreation center have received both positive and negative feedback from the community. The new center is proposed to be located at the intersection of State Farm Road and Hunting Hills Lane.
In February, Clark Nexsen, an architecture and engineering company provided the Watauga County Commissioners a design plan as well as a cost estimate for completing the project. According to their estimates, the project will cost $35 million to complete. The 2018-19 budget for the county has over $15 million set aside to go towards the new recreation center.
The plan included a construction start date of December, 2018 and a completion date of May, 2020.
According to the design plans, the recreation center would have a gym with four multi-use courts, a competition-size swimming pool, a track for running and walking, a leisure swimming pool and multi-purpose rooms for exercise, fitness and dance classes and rooms that can be used for parties and other social gatherings.