Parks & Rec staff exploring adding new building

LACONIA — While it’s unlikely to happen over the next year, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department may soon be in need of a new building. 

Laconia Parks & Rec mostly uses the community center located near the intersection of Union and Gilford avenues. Department Director Amy Lovisek told councilors, during a budget meeting on Tuesday night, the 98-year-old building comprises about 60% storage, and is at times worse for wear.

It’s also occupied for an entire month in the winter, when Christmas Village is installed there. Christmas Village is a long-running, successful and popular event in the city, but the parks & rec team loses one out of the four months of the year when indoor space comes at a premium.

Matt Mansur, assistant director of recreation and facilities, told councilors the demand for indoor space in the Lakes Region during the winter is high, and they’re usually busy for all four months at the community center. A line-dancing program left the facility due to lack of parking, a boxing event there went well but organizers had to arrange for parking off-site, and parking for pickleball was getting tight until more facilities recently opened in the area.

Mansur also said they’re proud to host and support Christmas Village, which has been in operation for nearly 50 years, but the closure of department operations for that month does have an effect. 

“At what point do you think you’re going to outgrow — or have you outgrown — the facility as a community center, in practicality?” Ward 5 Councilor Steven Bogert asked Lovisek. Bogert also serves Laconia as a Republican representative to the Statehouse. 

“In practicality, it’s not very practical,” Lovisek said. “It’s 60% storage right now, it’s an old armory. It’s a gym and a racquetball court, and we have a conference room for youth sports, adult sports, to come in and have their registrations and what-not. It’s not conducive to what we would like to see — art classes, music classes, dance classes, aerobics classes, that kind of thing. It’s not suitable for that.”

Lovisek told councilors a design phase would likely cost $75,000.

“More than a little,” Ward 3 Councilor Eric Hoffman said. 

In the early morning hours of Nov. 27 last year, The Wellness Complex on North Main Street burned, rendering it unusable and unoccupied for the last six months, as of Wednesday. But the fitness center, which isn’t expected to immediately reopen, holds something valuable within — a pool. While it may not be the perfect set of circumstances, Ward 1 Councilor Bruce Cheney suggested Lovisek look into what a purchase of the building could look like, when and if the time came along.

“We can look into it,” Lovisek said. 

But the space challenge aside, Lovisek told councilors her department is working hard to make the next fiscal year a great one. Laconia Pumpkinfest, which will occur in October, is already in the works, with city employees deep in the planning phases. 

“We’re going to knock this out of the park, and we’re really thrilled about it,” Mansur said.

“Pumpkinfest is going to be huge,” she said. “It’s already starting to take up a lot of time and effort, and it’s going to be 100% worth it — fabulous challenge.”