Ellicott City residents will have a new place to climb, swim and shoot some hoops this spring.
That’s when
the Roger Carter Community Center at 3000 Milltowne Dr. is set to open. Construction on the nearly $14 million project started a year ago and is next to the
Burgess Mill Station apartments. State and county bonds are funding the construction.
The recreation center is two-thirds complete with the steel structure, gym and parking lots finished, says Raul Delerme, chief of the Howard County Bureau of Capital Projects, Planning and Construction.
The 46,000-square-foot recreation center will replace the current one, which is less than one-fourth the size and was last renovated 20 years ago. The current recreation center is the only public facility in the county with a pool, Senior Development Officer of Howard County Housing Marcus Ervin says.
The two-story center will include outdoor basketball courts, preschool room, multi-purpose room, a five-lane swimming pool with beach entry, diving well and a retractable roof for the warmer seasons. It will also house a 24-foot climbing wall, an aerobics room and a 6,000-square-foot exercise room.
The Center will be Silver LEED-certified with a solar lighting that reduces utility costs by $63,000 per year.
Irvin says he expects the center to get 419 visitors per day with a total of 31 full-time employees and lifeguards.
Writer: Jolene Carr
Sources: Raul Delerme and Marcus Ervin, Howard County