Opelika breaks ground on sportsplex

March 4, 2008

By Beverly Harvey

Published: February 21, 2008

About 50 people braved the cold, wind and rain Thursday to attend the groundbreaking for the Opelika Sportsplex & Aquatic Center — a facility that will offer indoor programs and activities from aerobics to swimming.

The more than 75,000-square-foot facility will include an adult activities center, swimming pool, two racquetball courts, two gyms, weight room, meeting rooms, mulitmedia room and walking track — all indoors.

Outside, the center will have five regulation-size soccer fields, the city’s first, Opelika Parks and Recreation Board Chairman Rusty Melnick said.

The $32 million Opelika Sportsplex & Aquatic Center project is the largest in the 154-year history of the city, Mayor Gary Fuller said. It is also the city’s first public-private partnership on a construction project, with individuals and companies already contributing more than $4 million to build the center, he said.

“This is going to make a difference for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren because this facility is going to be here for many years,” Fuller said.

The center’s two indoor gyms will allow the city to hold its youth basketball program at one location, Opelika Parks and Recreation Director Bill Harrelson said.

“This is something that we’ve needed for a long, long time,” Harrelson said, noting that the center will be larger that the Opelika and Covington recreation centers combined.

“This should enhance the quality of life for all families in Opelika,” he said. “This will be a family center.”

The adult activities center will have a separate entrance and offer programs and activities for senior adults, Melnick said.

The Opelika Sportsplex & Aquatic Center is slated to open by August 2009 and will offer something for all ages — a major focus in the planning of the facility.

“This (center) will have something for every member of the family,” Melnick said. “It will be a place where the whole family can come and become close as a family.”