PORT TOWNSEND — After an 18-month closure because of a funding deficit, the Port Townsend Recreation Center will reopen its free play programs Tuesday.
The center is located at the corner of Tyler and Lawrence streets in Uptown Port Townsend, with access on the Tyler Street side.
“There is a lot of energy and excitement around our opening again,” said Assistant Recreation Manager Chris Macklin last week.
“Every day, we hear someone rattling the doors trying to get in.”
Funding for the recreation center was restored with voter approval in November of Proposition 1, which supports the center and Memorial Field with a 0.3 percent sales tax increase.
It had closed Jan. 1, 2010, because of lack of funds.
Starting Tuesday, the center will be open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. through Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and closed Sunday.
The first Monday it will be open will be July 11. Hours on Mondays will be from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The hours are expected to be permanent for the next three years, which is the time that the city of Port Townsend has committed to support the center from sales tax increase revenues.
Recreation aide supervisor Carrie Lennox said the void created by the absence of the center was obvious.
“After Tuesday, kids will have a safe, dry place they can come after school where their parents know they are being watched,” she said.
“A lot of places have shut down and kids don’t have a place to go, which sends a clear message to a 14-year-old as to what the community is interested in,” Lennox added.
For now, youth will have plenty of options at the recreation center but will need to generate their own programs.
That will change after the hiring of a full-time director, which is now in progress.
The new director will develop activities based on resources and interest, supervising 15 part-time employees.
Macklin and Lennox expect youngsters to return to the center as soon as the doors open but said they can’t predict how many will show up.
In the past, most afternoons found at least 30 young people at the center, some participating in impromptu team sports while others did their homework.
“It was always full of noise before, but for the last year and a half it has been very quiet in here,” Lennox said.
The center has about 2,000 square feet of open space which can be arranged to accommodate almost any type of activity.
It has a full-size gymnasium which can be used for basketball, volleyball or can become a performance space.
The staff will encourage young people to generate their own activities and even raise some of the funds themselves through such activities as a movie night or a pancake breakfast.
In the last days leading up to Tuesday’s opening, volunteers have been applying the finishing touches, such as painting walls and cleaning floors.
“This has been hard on the community,” Lennox said about the closure of the center. “And it wasn’t a lot of fun walking down the street and having people come up to me and ask when the center was reopening.”
For more information, phone 360-385-2221 or go to www.countyrec.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
