BREC’s Howell Community Park renovations are complete

Construction has wrapped up on the new 15,500-square-foot recreation center and swimming pool at Howell Community Park.

BREC offered a tour of the facility Tuesday morning before Friday evening’s official ribbon-cutting. 

The project was part of a multiyear effort to rebuild Howell Community Park following the 2016 flood, which damaged the original 1950s-era recreation center.

“I believe today is special … it’s a moment of resilience, an investment into this community and our future, and into the future of the children,” BREC interim Superintendent Janet Simmons said Tuesday. “In this community, this park represents what’s possible when we prioritize people, when we listen to what neighborhoods need and respond with care, creativity and purpose.”

The recreation center project cost $8 million as part of the Imagine Your Parks 2 plan. The new center includes meeting and rental rooms that can be combined to accommodate over 200 people, a game room, a dedicated space for senior programming, and staff offices.

Outside, the site features an 8-foot-deep swimming pool, a bathhouse with showers and changing areas, and an elevated entry plaza connecting the center to the existing playground.

BREC Assistant Director of Planning and Development Brett Wallace says the new recreation center is more than double the size of the roughly 6,000-square-foot original center.

The project also prepared the elevated building pad for the Inspiration Center, which is currently under construction, and will serve as the future home of the Boys & Girls Club.
Friday’s event at the park begins at 6 p.m. with the ribbon cutting, followed by a Late Night Hype event from 7 to 10 p.m. Late Night Hype will include late swim hours, a DJ, and inflatables.

It is part of a four-event series scheduled for June 13 and June 20 and for July 11 and July 18.