Bob Foos
After the opening celebration Monday, The W Club recreation center will officially open at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 29.
That celebration will start at 4:30 p.m., followed by a regular City Council meeting in The W Club’s meeting room.
The new facility is a gift to the city from the Dawson Heritage Foundation. Jim Dawson, a city council member and head of the foundation, ceremoniously handed the key to the building to Mayor Lynn Ragsdale during the council’s July 14 meeting.
City Administrator Carl Francis says the city has the staff to operate the facility from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Running the operation will be Kong Lee, the city’s new recreation center director.
The day-to-day schedule is still in the planning stage, but as of next week Lee says to expect the following:
8 a.m. – 10 a.m. / reserved for walking
10 a.m. – noon / open for walking and court play
noon – 5 p.m. / pickleball- Monday and Thursday
noon – 5 p.m. / basketball- Tuesday
noon – 5 p.m. / volleyball- Wednesday
5 p.m. – 8 p.m. / open gym
Closed weekends, except for reservations
Before going to the gym, partipants will be required to sign up for free, agreeing to terms of use and liability.
Ahead of time, you can create an account on the Webb City Parks and Recreation website. (Look for REGISTER at the top right of the front page.)
Lee says volleyball and basketball youth leagues will start next year. There’s not enough time to begin them before the first of the year.
The gym can be configured as six pickleball courts, two full basketball courts (with height-adjustable goals) or two volleyball courts. There are also portable bleachers.
All of the balls and pickleball nets have been provided by the foundation. Participants will need to check them out when they sign in.
In addition to the gym, there is an all-purpose room suitable for meetings, fitness classes and parties. The building is equipped with WiFi and at a later date will have audio-visual equipment.
No food or drink will be allowed in the gym, but there’s a space for that – the commons area.
It’s next to the concessions area, which will be open for large crowds.
Areas in the gym and the meeting room can be reserved. The first step in making a reservation is to open an account on the Webb City Parks and Recreation website.
For more than two years before being hired by Webb City, Kong Lee as the new recreation center director gained experience planning and scheduling programs as the assistant director of student activities for the Kansas City University College of Medicine in Joplin.
While earning his bachelor’s degree at Missouri Southern State University, he supervised the courts and recreation center. He participated in intramural volleyball and continues to play in adult volleyball leagues.
“I’m excited for Webb City” to be getting this facility, he says. “And I’m happy to be a part of it.”
