SALEM COMMUNITY CENTER Countdown to opening day

Memberships are being sold at a brisk pace, the center's director says.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- After more than a year's worth of work, construction on the $9.5 million Salem Community Center is wrapping up, and a Nov. 15 opening date is set for the facility.
Crews are putting the finishing touches on the nearly 50,000-square-foot center, located off North Ellsworth Avenue near 12th Street, next to Waterworth Memorial Park.
"We're almost there," Eric Green, the center's director, said Thursday of the effort to get the building open.
While workers attend to final construction details, Green is preparing his staff for opening day.
Operational procedures are being reviewed, equipment is being tested and employees are being trained. The center eventually will employ about 40 full- and part-time staff members.
The center's construction, which began in July 2001, was made possible with a donation from the Salem Community Foundation, a Salem-based charitable organization.
The private, nonprofit facility will run with revenue from membership fees and from renting out the facility's conference and banquet rooms.
Green says he's enthused by the interest in memberships. So far, nearly 1,000 people have joined. Eventually, the center would like to have more than 2,500 members. Memberships range from $22 to $27 a month, depending on age.
Features
The center features an Olympic-sized swimming pool that's equipped to handle swim meets.
The Canfield High School swim team will be using the facility for practice and competitions, Green said.
Other features include a day-care facility, teen center, activity rooms, gymnasium, indoor running track, and a fitness room with state-of-the-art machines and nearly 5,000 pounds of free weights. Some of the exercise machines are designed so they can be used by people in wheelchairs.
Many rooms have expansive windows that look into other areas of the center or outside.
Visitors entering the structure will find themselves in a lobby that rivals that of a luxury hotel's.
Thick carpet, wallpaper, ceramic tile and cherry woodwork are featured throughout the structure.
A marketing asset
"What an amenity to be able to offer" to prospective businesses and area residents, said Margie Kampfer, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce director.
Having a facility like the center in town will serve as a marketing asset in trying to lure economic development, Kampfer said.
"We're real happy with the quality we're able to provide," Green said.