Conway opens some activities at rec center to non-members

CONWAY The city of Conway is starting the new year with a plan to open its new recreation center to more people who either can’t afford membership fees or don’t want to pay them.

The city will let non-members participate in individual activities at the center for a one-time payment based on the activity.

Walking along the 1/10-mile track that encircles the top of the gymnasium, for instance, will cost non-members $2 per trek. Or you can join a pick-up volleyball game at $4 per person. Open swimming in the indoor pool is going to cost $3 a person.

The single-fee activities – there are 10 on the list – are open to non-members on limited times and days.

But just the presence of them helps to address concerns that some residents expressed that the center was built with public funds but wasn’t available to all of the public.

The city, though, needed to worry about the 800 members it needed to pay for full-time operation of the approximately $5 million center. Now that membership has topped more than double the needed number, the doors are being opened.

The loosening of the initial rules that only members would be allowed to use the center’s facilities doesn’t apply to everything under the roof, though. Only those who buy memberships will be able to use the weight room, fitness room and cardio room. And members will continue to have daily access to all the center’s facilities. One-time use activities are limited by days and times.

The list of activities for one-time use for non-members is:

• Weekday walking: 5:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, $2 per occurrence

• Pickle ball: 9 a.m.-noon, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, $4 per person

• Table tennis: 9 a.m.-noon, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, $4 per person

• Lunch time basketball: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday, $4 per person

• Volleyball: 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, $4 per person

• Pick-up basketball: 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday, $4 per person

• Open swim: 2 p.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday, $3 per person

• Conway Tiger Sharks swim team: $25 per month Conway residents, $35 per month non-residents

• Swim lessons: Various dates, $25 for residents, $35 for non-residents

• Fitness classes: $5 per person for a single class

• Aqua fitness classes: $5 per person for a single class.

For more details, call the recreation center at 248-1740.

Council meeting

The first meeting of the Conway City Council will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9. The agenda has not been finalized.