91ÊÓƵ

Community recreation centers have evolved.

“They used to be these concrete cinder blocks with these single rooms,” said Jim Kalvelage, a partner at Portland-based Opsis Architecture. “We’ve evolved along to integrating this social dimension and integrating comfortable places to hang out. It’s a place where you can bring your whole family.”

Opsis is designing a next-generation community recreation center for the city of Hillsboro. It will include a pool, a gym and other traditional indoor recreational space with community meeting rooms and classrooms, among other amenities.

“It’s a one-stop version,” Kalvelage said. “In the past we had a separate aquatic center or a senior center. Bringing them together makes a richer experience.”

Opsis recently wrapped up the six-month predesign phase for the project, including determination of three possible layouts. City officials are leaning toward a $48 million option, but the final determination will depend on funding.

Hillsboro has only one sizable indoor recreation center – Shute Park Aquatic & Recreation Center on Southeast Maple Street – and officials have identified the need for more, Hillsboro Parks & Recreation Assistant Director Dave Miletich said.

Hillsboro City Council has made construction of a new recreation center a top priority, and city officials are seeking funding from public and private sources, he said. The soonest that funding could be finalized is early 2015.

Opsis has designed other recreation centers, including the Firstenburg Community Center in Vancouver, Wash., but Kalvelage said he envisions the Hillsboro project going a step further.

“We think when this is built it will be the next evolution,” he said. “It will be the national model for this type of facility.”

The Firstenburg Community Center, which opened in 2006, is the firm’s flagship recreation center project, Kalvelage said. The Hillsboro community recreation center will have similarities, including ample windows and extensive use of wood, but have a more open floor plan and a better mix of recreational, meeting or lounge spaces.

“This is much more porous, and it creates with it a lot more excitement and shared use of space,” Kalvelage said. “That’s one of the paradigm shifts for this type of building from the Firstenburg (center).”

This sense of openness will be a key feature. The building will have large windows for visitors approaching or entering the building to immediately get a sense of the recreational opportunities offered. People swimming in the pool, running on the indoor track or playing a game of basketball in the gym will be able to look out at natural surroundings.

“It’s like a marketplace feel; when you walk in, you’re exposed to a lot of activities,” Kalvelage said. “From the outside, right away you’re seeing parties (and) people working out, playing in the pool.”

Hillsboro officials hired Opsis because of its track record of creating open and inviting community centers, Miletich said.

“The vision for the community center is a place where the entire community can gather and participate in all the activities we offer in recreation,” he said.

Hillsboro and Opsis officials hosted four public meetings that gathered input on the three proposed options for the recreation center. The first, estimated to cost $45 million, would be about 93,100 square feet and include a gym, a track, multipurpose exercise spaces, a recreation pool, a lounge, a game area, a community room, a kitchen, classrooms and special event rooms. The second, 104,500-square-foot option would cost $48 million and include more gym and cardio and weight room space. A third, 109,000-square-foot possibility would cost $53.5 million and have an additional pool for lap swimming.

Opsis also helped the city determine the best site for the project in a master plan for indoor recreational spaces; it was approved in 2013. The new recreation center will be built on the north end of a 20-acre, city-owned property on 53rd Avenue, across the street from a park.

The center’s design will respond to the site’s natural qualities. For instance, a deck will extend into a forested area behind the community meeting room, and connections to outdoor walking trails will be created.

“The idea is the building will sit very light on the site and really enhance the site amenities through these outdoor rooms,” Kalvelage said.

Equally important is that the facility be inviting to all ages. Opsis was challenged to design spaces able to accommodate teenagers at one point in the day and seniors the next, Kalvelage said.

“There’s no other building that brings the whole community together,” he said. “Your memory of this building starts as a young child in the wading pool to when you enter your golden years.”