The following article by Anya Sczerzenie was published on Jan. 30, 2025 at www.dnronline.com. Photo courtesy of DN-R.
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Rockingham County opens new recreation center in Penn Laird
PENN LAIRD – Officials celebrated Rockingham County’s finished recreation center with a soft opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.
The Rockingham Recreation Center facility, located at Rockingham Park at the Crossroads, has an indoor track, four basketball or “multipurpose” courts, classrooms, a concession stand and a planned “sensory room.” It will be used for high school and college track meets and sports and will be open to the public. However, it isn’t open to the public just yet, and county officials are still working out the schedule.
The 80,000-square-foot rec center took just over a year to complete, according to Chris Weaver, CEO of Lantz Construction in Broadway, who worked on the project.
“Fortunately, everything was relatively smooth on this project,” Weaver said.
Rick Chandler, the county supervisor whose district includes Penn Laird and the rec center, cut the ribbon.
“It’s a real opportunity for the whole community,” Chandler said. “The high schools in particular — track, volleyball, any of their other programs. When they’re in action and the weather’s bad, this is a golden opportunity for them. They always have to travel, the indoor track programs, and now we have the opportunity to host.”
Chandler said he has also heard from older residents who want to walk around the indoor track and use the courts to play pickleball.
“To move it along, a project of this size, we were very impressed with Lantz and their subcontractors,” Chandler said. “To offer it for our seniors, high schools, and now possibly our colleges — I think it’s a full community effort here.”
The rec center will also be the new home of the county’s Parks and Recreation department, according to deputy director Marco Knorr, who introduced the facility’s features to the crowd.
“All of our staff are going to move out here full-time in the next several days,” Knorr said.
Knorr also said the space could be used for more activities in the future.
“There’s really no limits on what we can do here,” Knorr said. “Indoor soccer, wrestling, prom, it’s really open to anything.”
The center’s first official event will be the Valley District High School Indoor Track and Field District Championship on Feb. 8.
Pictured: Rockingham County supervisor Rick Chandler cuts the ribbon Wednesday marking the official opening of the Rockingham Recreation Center in Penn Laird as Lantz CEO Chris Weaver and county supervisors Leila Longcor and Sallie Wolfe-Garrison watch.
