After nearly two months in operation, The Linc, Jefferson City's new health and wellness center, continues to bring in more people and Parks Department officials see nothing but good times ahead.
Parks and Recreation Commission commissioners were told by Aaron Grefrath, the assistant director of Parks and the resident manager at the Wellness Center, they have sold 336 adult day passes and 556 youth day passes since the center opened.
The center is a joint venture between the Parks Department and Lincoln University.
Figures shown at Tuesday night's commission meeting indicated the center has already generated more than $163,000 for Parks.
For Lincoln students, the cost to use the center is built into their tuition. Jefferson City residents can pay for a single visit or can buy a membership. Various membership packages are available. For adults, a membership costs $25 a month or $300 a year. To get more interest, the public walking track will be available for free 6-10 a.m. Monday through Friday, through April 30.
Grefrath said the center has seen large crowds for basketball and volleyball games, and are already looking at events to be held there in the next several months. He said they hired an exercise instructor/coordinator, recruiting of new instructors has begun, new member surveys have gone out to determine priority of classes and new classes will be implemented by mid-May. Also a kids' club and youth cooking classes are being discussed.
He noted many of the youth they see are "the same faces," so once they use the facility they seem to like it and want to come back. Grefrath added they had no real problems with the youth who have been coming.
Initially, there were a number of thefts after the center opened its doors, but those numbers have been drastically reduced, Grefrath said, thanks in part to the response by Lincoln University police to step up patrols of the area and do walk-throughs of the facility.
On a related note, Parks Director Todd Spalding received approval for a supplemental appropriation allocation that will be forwarded to the City Council approval at its Monday meeting. This allocation includes approximately $2.4 million to cover the remaining construction expenses, furniture, fixtures and equipment, as well as some unanticipated start-up operating expenses for The Linc. To date, the total contract for construction of the center is $12,947,803. Parks has already paid more than $5.8 million from sales tax collections. The rest of the money for the center came from Lincoln University, which contributed $4.6 million, and a $4 million gift.
Spalding also told commissioners revenue from the parks sales tax is up slightly from this same time last year, coming in at $1,427,000 as of March compared to $1,423,000 in March 2016.