Friends, Neighbors and Fellow Upper Merion Area Residents:
We are now only a little more than 4 weeks away from the ribbon cutting and the opening of the Upper Merion Community Center.
At the Monument in Valley Forge
The community center will offer a variety of athletic, intellectual and cultural programs for our residents. If you like to work out there is a large “L” shaped fitness room with weights and cardio. In my recent tour I was intrigued by one multipurpose machine with a heavy bag and monkey bars! There are also two group exercise rooms: a large room on the upper level with huge windows that overlooks the outside of the facility and allows a lot of natural light to enter the room, and a spinning room on the main floor. A schedule of fitness classes should be available around August 15th. Additional exercise features includes a 1/9th mile long oval track for people to walk or jog around. If you want to play sports there numerous basketball/volleyball courts and a multipurpose sport court. The courts are separated from each other and the track by netting which can be electronically raised and lowered. There will also be a mind-body studio which will offer yoga and other classes. You can see many pictures and some video of the new community center on my Facebook page as well as on Upper Merion Parks and Recreation’s Facebook page.
We know that many of our residents are just as interested in the arts and that’s why the community center is about much more than just athletics. There’s a professional kitchen, rooms for music lessons (including piano lessons), there’s a room for arts that will be equipped with sewing machines and is outfitted for a kiln. Additionally, there’s space in the community center to display the work of local artists. If you have meetings or events you want to hold at the community center, we have multiple meeting rooms some of which have built-in white boards. If you just want to hang out and get a cup of coffee and surf the net with free wifi, well we have a room for that too. The Upper Merion Community Center will also become the permanent home of the Upper Merion Senior Service Center and recently the Upper Merion Community Center received some very good news in that we are now affiliated with Silver Sneakers so now our seniors who are Silver Sneakers members can use the entire facility!
The community center has already received a significant amount of interest from our residents. As of a few days ago over 600 Upper Merion residents have joined sight unseen. I suspect the number of passholders – our word for members – will increase significantly once tours begin after the September 5 ribbon cutting. Additionally monthly credit card payments will be accepted soon. This is important because we know that not everyone can afford to pay a one-time annual fee.
It has always been one of the main goals of this Board of Supervisors to dramatically expand the number of recreational opportunities in Upper Merion and due to our robust local economy we’ve been able to do that without raising taxes. For more information on the community center, you can click this link to the township’s webpage on this subject or contact the parks and recreation department at 610-265-1071. A public ribbon cutting will be held on Monday, September 5 at 1:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, September 6 at 5 a.m. the community center will be open to the public. I hope to see you there!
Next time: Upper Merion Trivia Returns!
Additional Business: Besides my aforementioned Facebook page, you can follow me on Twitter (@gregwaks) and Instagram (gregwaks).
Additional Business, Part 2: If you missed my recent 5 Questions in 100 Seconds Video, here is a link. In the video I answer questions about the impact of federal and state law on the decisions of the Board of Supervisors, the date of the township fair, new schools in Upper Merion and more. You can watch it by clicking this link.
Sincerely,
Greg
