City Bond Project Would Expand Rec Center

by Charlotte Kovalchuk Images courtesy Georgetown Parks & Rec Department

In the last 15 years, Georgetown’s population has more than doubled, leading to overcrowding at many city facilities including the Recreation Center, which has had to waitlist nearly 29 percent more residents who want to sign up for programs than there are spaces. “That means almost one third of kids who want to participate in camps, athletic programs, swim lessons, and other things have to be on a waitlist,” Parks and Recreation Director Kimberly Garrett says. “Our community has grown so much, we have a lot of young people and families, and their kids want to participate in activities and programs. A lot of people look to Parks and Recreation to provide those services. We needed to renovate and expand the current Rec Center to serve our current population as we were seeing a lot more demand for services."

On November 7, a $130 million city bond package will go before voters and feature a new Customer Service Center, animal shelter expansion, funding partnership for a new YMCA center, and Rec Center expansion and renovation. The $49 million Rec Center project would include a 30,000-squarefoot expansion with a new gym and indoor playground, expanded Teen/ Senior Center, additional parking, and improvements to the child watch location and indoor pool.

The project would expand the Rec Center to 95,000 square feet, providing a little over one square foot per resident, to keep up with surrounding cities. “Right now we’re at less than one square foot per person, and it shows in our increased demand and waitlists. [With this project] we’ll be right up there with other communities at a little over one square foot per person,” Kimberly says.

If the bond passes, construction on the Rec Center project could start in 2026.

Election Day is November 7. The last day to register to vote is October 10, and early voting runs from October 23 through November 3.