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Gladstone Center a success after six months with doors open
By Meagan O’Donnell
The Gladstone Community Center has shown much success since its opening in February and looks to have an even more promising future.
The City Council was given an update of the center after its six month birthday on Sept. 22.
As of Sept. 1, memberships totaled 1,831 with slightly more than 4,000 members. These numbers have stayed close to where they were after a three-month assessment in May, said Justin Merkey, center administrator. Average daily attendance for August was 431, up from 394, the average recorded in May.
The largest problem the center has faced is parking for large events.
“Looking forward, I do think that parking in closer proximity is something that we will have to address not only as a park department, but as a City Council and as a community, and I think that is something we are going to want to look at before all the dust settles,” said Sheila Lillis, parks and recreation director. “I do think that will be a little bit of a challenge moving forward.”
An estimated 200 to 250 additional parking spots are needed to fulfill the needs of center events. One solution being considered is to develop a plan and secure funding to install a second tier of parking on the northeast side of Central Park.
Swim meets have been some of the largest events hosted by the center since opening. The North Kansas City Schools swim teams call the center home and have several swim meets scheduled there in the future. Upcoming meets are expected to draw up to 1,000 spectators.
Swim meets are not the only events to draw visitors to the center.
A memo from Lillis said birthday party rentals continued to exceed expectations and banquet rooms were receiving a lot of traffic. The banquet and party rooms have had more than 13,000 visitors since opening.
“It really has been a successful event and only because we are all working towards making it that way,” Lillis said of the entire center operation. “We are right on target with our budget. We are right on the mark as far as our numbers.”
She said there is room for growth at the center and it has met expectations so far.
The City Council praised the operation of the center and agreed that it has been successful. The council said the center staff had contributed to much of this success.
“I think so far the community center has been wildly successful. What I hear over and over again is not just the quality of the center, but also the quality of the staff,” Councilman Les Smith said.
The Gladstone Community Center is at 6901 N. Holmes St.
Staff writer
Meagan O’Donnell can be reached at 389-6606 or meaganodonnell@npgco.com.
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The City Council was given an update of the center after its six month birthday on Sept. 22.
As of Sept. 1, memberships totaled 1,831 with slightly more than 4,000 members. These numbers have stayed close to where they were after a three-month assessment in May, said Justin Merkey, center administrator. Average daily attendance for August was 431, up from 394, the average recorded in May.
The largest problem the center has faced is parking for large events.
“Looking forward, I do think that parking in closer proximity is something that we will have to address not only as a park department, but as a City Council and as a community, and I think that is something we are going to want to look at before all the dust settles,” said Sheila Lillis, parks and recreation director. “I do think that will be a little bit of a challenge moving forward.”
An estimated 200 to 250 additional parking spots are needed to fulfill the needs of center events. One solution being considered is to develop a plan and secure funding to install a second tier of parking on the northeast side of Central Park.
Swim meets have been some of the largest events hosted by the center since opening. The North Kansas City Schools swim teams call the center home and have several swim meets scheduled there in the future. Upcoming meets are expected to draw up to 1,000 spectators.
Swim meets are not the only events to draw visitors to the center.
A memo from Lillis said birthday party rentals continued to exceed expectations and banquet rooms were receiving a lot of traffic. The banquet and party rooms have had more than 13,000 visitors since opening.
“It really has been a successful event and only because we are all working towards making it that way,” Lillis said of the entire center operation. “We are right on target with our budget. We are right on the mark as far as our numbers.”
She said there is room for growth at the center and it has met expectations so far.
The City Council praised the operation of the center and agreed that it has been successful. The council said the center staff had contributed to much of this success.
“I think so far the community center has been wildly successful. What I hear over and over again is not just the quality of the center, but also the quality of the staff,” Councilman Les Smith said.
The Gladstone Community Center is at 6901 N. Holmes St.
Staff writer
Meagan O’Donnell can be reached at 389-6606 or meaganodonnell@npgco.com.