Planning for new Midland Community Center
Ed Hutchison | Thursday, January 20, 2022
Enjoying aquatic arthritis class in the Oasis Pool. The class was designed by The Arthritis Foundation.
Tentative planning for a new Midland Community Center is well underway, and groundbreaking could happen this year, according to Terri Johnson. She’s the president and CEO of Greater Midland. Johnson says the new facility would be built and then, the existing building razed. That area will then be used for parking. The center is located at 2205 Jefferson Avenue.
Greater Midland is the umbrella organization of the Community Center, Curling Center, Tennis Center, North-End Fitness, Coleman Family Center and North Family Center.
Catalyst Midland met recently with Johnson and several of her colleagues intimately involved with the building’s history, community needs, planning, financing and fundraising.
Johnson says the group has preliminary drawings in hand and sufficient funding secured to take the next major step. That step, she says, is to fine-tune building appearance, layout, and features and to continue seeking funds, including reaching out to the greater community for financial support.
Terri Johnson is the President and CEO of Greater Midland.
Johnson and her colleagues say they are often asked why build a new facility when the original one seems perfectly fine to the eye and despite aging quirks, immensely popular with the community – and all ages.
“The current building is 65 years old and is past its useful life,” she says, adding “electrical, mechanical systems and physical structure of the building are very outdated and are becoming a financial burden to the organization.
“As such, it is impacting the ability to focus our resources on providing critical services to the community.”
Child care and activities for children are available at the MCC.
Inefficient and old systems are costly to operate and difficult to repair. A $42,000 monthly utility bill is not uncommon, according to Kevin Heye, executive director of the Community Center and nearby Curling Center.
Nostalgia aside, regulars at the Community Center are seldom surprised when something doesn’t work. Example: In mid-December, over several days: Locker rooms serving the Oasis Pool had no hot water for showers, the hot tub in the nearby men’s main locker room failed, leaking water into a classroom underneath and debris in ductwork triggered the building’s fire alarm to roar.
Proposed highlights include:
Size: About 117,000 square feet, less than half of the existing building.
Tentative features and where: Rather than six locker rooms in the existing building, the new facility will have one women’s and one men’s; located in the central core of the first floor, close to gyms and pools. It will offer “cabanas” to serve locker privacy needs for singles and families.
Two pools side by side join gyms, natatorium, senior area, administration, early childhood and education and community spaces on the first floor.
Wellness, fitness, and studios are on the mezzanine floor with huge windows. Guests on the mezzanine floor can watch the activity below.
Location: Basically, the parking lot of the existing Center and extending back to the Curling Center. When the new building is ready for use, the existing building will be razed, and the land converted to parking and landscaping.
Shape: A wide, somewhat V-shape with the bottom of the V meeting the Curling Center.
Mike Walker (seated) and Ron Wellman get ready for aquatic class in the Oasis Pool locker room.
Neighborhood: No changes; in fact, planners hope to integrate the 14-acre site with the City’s 14-acre Central Park, the new Miracle Field to create a beautifully landscaped area mindful of the neighborhood and its history and Alden B. Dow architecture.
And roughly, how much will this cost? That’s a great question but Johnson and her planners are silent on this -- at least right now. Johnson offers this explanation:
“We are in the process of determining affordability and support to bring this vision to a reality. We have been so blessed with the early support from key foundations and companies in Midland, along with a large contribution from the State of Michigan.
“We have a way to go in raising the needed capital and funding which will determine the full scope and timing of our construction efforts,” she said.
Back to square feet and why so much less. A recent study of the existing building showed that many places are used just 15 to 20 percent of the time and some are never used -- but still are heated and cooled. Hallways consume a whopping 30,000 square feet or the equivalent of about seven basketball courts.
Exercise is at the core of the Midland Community Center.
In contrast, planners’ goal for the new building is to use most spaces 80 percent of the time. And who are these planners?
“Experts in architecture, community-space planning, mechanical and electrical engineering, aquatic design and building logistics from across the country have come together to help us, Johnson notes.
Planners are also embracing a new approach to building called “universal design (UD).” It goes beyond requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Basically, UD strives to improve the original design concept by making a facility more inclusive and desirable rather than simply accessible.
While planners seem comfortable with the current plan, they admit much work is yet to be done – especially if groundbreaking is to be this year. Johnson said private conversations with potential donors and foundations have been underway for some time.
Clockwise are Joann Taylor (mask), Janice Valeri-Rose, Diane Popp and Jim Covieo in the Senior Center. The group, and others, gather twice weekly to play Mah Jongg, a four -player tile game.
A public fund-raising campaign is likely, she says, especially given the community nature of the facility
And the architects’ plans are sufficiently fluid that nothing “on paper” now is definite, but planners are almost gleeful when they speak to what they hope is coming for the community – and relatively soon.
Catalyst recently stopped by an aquatic arthritis class and a mah-jongg session at the Midland Community Center and asked participants what they’d like to see in the new Center. This is what we learned (number of years a CC member):
Mike Walker (4): “I like to get in the pool as it keeps me more flexible…like being around people in aquatics arthritis class, the conversation and all…”.
Ronna Lamblin (14): “The Center offers a lot for families, and I’d like to see they continue that – the day camps, day care and the wide variety. And for older people, we exercise and go to lunch together…we build a network of friends. In aquatics arthritis, I’ve found that we form a social network and don’t even think about it, but then it’s there and is a wonderful surprise.” (Lamblin is an instructor for aquatics arthritis).
Faye Eback (65) – “My husband Earl and I started coming when we moved to Midland, and we played a lot of paddleball. When I was pregnant with my second child, I did not come back for some time. I returned in 2018 after hip surgery the year before.”
l hope they continue with the senior center; a lot of people really use it. Also, sufficient gyms for the kids in elementary, middle and high school to learn how to play sports safely. I hope they will continue with summer camps….And please give us a second pool, like the Oasis pool…”
Lynda Grosteffon (10) – “I started when, after shoulder surgery, I found physical therapy was not working well. A friend suggested arthritis aquatics class and it worked. I’ve also have worked out on equipment at the fitness center. In the new building, I hope we have more spacious locker rooms, have more classes scheduled. I love it all – I’m just a big goof and have fun in all our classes and laugh all the time.”
