New Geneva recreation center just about ready to go
Nina Chavez was swamped with laundry Thursday.
With two commercial washers and two commercial dryers humming in a room behind her, she stood at the front desk of the new Persinger Recreation Center in Geneva, methodically folding shower towel after shower towel after shower towel.
Eight hundred and forty of them. On top of the dozens and dozens of wash cloths and sweat towels people will start using soon as they run, jump, dance, lift and otherwise burn calories in the facility, which officially opens Sept. 27.
The architectural homage to the area's rural past -- it was built to look like a barn, including a metal silo -- hides state-of-the-art cardiovascular and weight-training exercise machines, a gymnasium with an indoor track, a dance studio, multipurpose rooms, an arts-and-crafts room, a kitchen and a child-care area.
The new center is yet another result of the growth spurt Geneva has undergone in the 1990s and 2000s. Its population was 12,617 in 1990, according to the U.S. Census, and 21,497 in 2000. By 2010, city officials expect it to reach 25,000.
Much of the growth has happened west of Randall Road. And the park district's boundaries are larger than the city's, containing most of the Mill Creek subdivision, which, when fully built, will have 2,000 residences.
Delnor-Community Hospital on Randall Road recently added a new patient wing to accommodate more patients, and is asking the state for permission to enlarge its obstetrics and maternity department. The Geneva school district is building an elementary school on Fabyan Parkway near Mill Creek, and is planning to expand Geneva High School. It is also considering building another elementary school farther west, in La Fox, but that plan has been delayed due to the slowing down of home-building. The library is also talking of a new building to accommodate a growing community.
So far, it's been a fast welcome at the $9.5 million Persinger Recreation Center.
More than 800 memberships to the new center have been sold, said Ryan Himes, assistant manager.
"I'm pretty much booked all the way through October and into November" for children's birthday party rentals, Himes said.
One area children may especially enjoy is the indoor playground. It features a climbing apparatus with a farm theme, including a fake hay bale, barn mice and a windmill.
The gym has two high-school-size basketball courts, one of which can be converted to two smaller courts. There's a drop-down batting cage with a pitching machine for baseball team practice -- or a sports-themed birthday party.
Besides open gym times for basketball, "We will have a ton of programming going on here," Himes said.
The track is elevated over the gym. Park district residents who want to use only the track can purchase an ID for $5 to do so.
But if running in circles (11.5 to the mile) makes you dizzy, there are Life Fitness elliptical machines and treadmills in the Fitness Center on the first floor. You can watch television on your machine while you work out, or attach your iPod (except a Shuffle) to manage and listen to your music or watch a movie. For those who like to chart their workouts, the machines have USB ports. You can download a workout plan from home, or import data from the machine to take home, on your own USB stick.
"It's all so very high-tech, way over my head," said Sheavoun Lambillotte, the Geneva Park District's recreation superintendent.
But don't worry: there are little personal trainer avatars on the display screens that can talk you through how to use the machines.
The view can take your mind off the fact that you are exercising. The room is full of natural light from large windows. The machines all face east, looking over soccer fields. The center, at Peck and Kaneville roads, is right across Kaneville from Peck Farm Park. Native plants are featured in the landscaping, including purple coneflowers. "It was important to absolutely not lose sight of the wonderful landscape we have," said Lambillotte.
Inside, there is a wall covered in old barn siding, saved by local preservationist Dan Otto. There are photos of old barns, courtesy of the Geneva History Center. A cow print is carried throughout in the carpeting. There are barn-style doors.
But a silo? Don't expect to see grain coming out. The silo disguises a set of emergency exit stairs from the second floor.
When it is time to clean up, people can enjoy a steam room. And you won't have to drag a padlock around in your gym bag, because the new lockers feature computerized built-in locks. You just punch in four digits of your choosing to lock it.
"Coming from a fitness center where people had to bring their own locks, I don't know how many times I had to cut off locks" when people forgot their combinations or lost their keys, Himes said.
Himes said many of the new members are coming from the nearby Mill Creek subdivision, which is on the west side of the district.
"It's the convenience factor," he said. They are also giving up their memberships at private Randall Road gyms, including Delnor-Community Hospital's Health and Wellness Center and XFitness in St. Charles, for the less-expensive center (but it does not have a swimming pool, unlike those gyms.)
It will relieve pressure on the Geneva Community Center, which houses the Sunset Fitness Center (about 2,000 members).
There will be basketball and volleyball leagues for adults, now that the park district has a gym of its own, Himes said. (Sunset Fitness Center does not have a gym.)
The district will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.
"I think it is phenomenal," said Chavez.