PEARISBURG, Va. – Giles County is known by many as a Mecca for outdoor recreation, but when winter hits, it’s a different story.
“In the wintertime, the options are a little bit more limited in terms of indoor opportunities,” said Susan Bradley, a parent and resident in Giles County.
For years, many people have had to leave the county to exercise, swim, or hold team events.
Right now, in the heart of Giles County, in the town of Pearisburg, if somebody needs to go to some type of recreation center, they have the Wellness Center in Narrows, but if there and the schools are full, it’s a 30-minute drive to the next one.
To help solve this, leaders with the Giles County Board of Supervisors are working on a plan to build an indoor recreation center.
“This is a culmination of requests that we have had for a number of years,” said Chris McKlarney, county administrator.
McKlarney said they are in the early stages of planning but need community input for what they want to see.
“The board of supervisors has said let’s go out and talk to the community, get their input, and see how interested they are,” McKlarney said.
One person in favor of the recreation center is Susan Bradley. She has children who swim and said she would love a pool in Giles.
“We are driving to Montgomery County 4-5 times a week for access to the pool,” Bradley said. “There are days I have done that for weeks, two trips a day to Blacksburg to come back for practice.”
Camden Shaver said she is constantly on the road, driving her kids to neighboring localities so they can participate in team sports.
“I currently drive my daughter to Radford three days a week for travel basketball. We don’t have a travel team for her age yet, and if we did or we tried to pursue that, we would have a really limited resource of where would we practice. Where would we go?” Shaver said.
McKlarney said the biggest question right now is how much this will cost. He said the total price tag will be determined by what type of facility people want.
You have until February 17 to send in your comments. You can submit your comments here.