Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010

Lake Lynn center's gym to grow

The Lake Lynn Community Center gym is soon to double in size and get a much-needed facelift.

Construction is to begin in March on an addition that will add a second basketball court, air conditioning and a handicap-accessible sidewalk to the North Raleigh community center on Ray Road.

Raleigh City Council this month approved a $928,206 construction contract. The project is expected to be completed by the end of October, just in time for basketball season.

"We basically have kids in the building all day long, all year long," said Kira Stewart, the community center's director. "All the feedback has been very positive. Patrons feel the effects of only having one gym. Basketball teams would love to have more practices."

Stewart said several hundred people use the gym daily, and there is very little time for anyone to use it who isn't practicing or playing in a league. The addition will allow the community center to rent space for private gatherings, and to hold more than one sporting event at a time.

The new basketball court will run parallel to the existing one, with a retractable curtain between them. The vinyl tiles of the existing court will be replaced.

After-school programs and summer camps are held at the center, which Stewart said will benefit from the air conditioning. She said the existing court will be closed only for a few weeks at the beginning and end of the construction process, and the center will remain open.

Raleigh staffers say the double courts have been planned since the community center was built more than a decade ago. Raleigh citizens approved funding for the addition in a 2003 parks bond referendum.

"Hopefully it will provide a better environment for the players and a better gym overall," said Shawsheen Baker, a landscape architect for the city's Parks and Recreation department.