Blue Ridge holds town hall on rec center proposal

The Blue Ridge Board of Education and representatives from the Susquehanna County Recreation Center held a town hall meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 18, to discuss the school campus as a possible location for the proposed community center.
Before moving ahead with a proposal, the board is seeking input from the public about the possibility of conveying land to the SCRC.
A second town hall meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 24, was cancelled due to the weather.
The SCRC is looking to build a facility to provide community-oriented recreational opportunities to Susquehanna County residents.
The facility, and SCRC, would continue to be a separate entity from the Blue Ridge School District.
In the proposed “Option 1” the SCRC would be located on 11.84 acres and provide nearly 300 parking spaces, bordering the state gamelands.
“We want to be a nucleus of the community,” said a SCRC rep at the town hall meeting. “(SCRC is) trying to better the community through recreation.”
The facility could provide the school district with more fitness and practice areas, an indoor walking track, and could also host college fairs and trade shows.
The plan is to build an all steel building with bluestone accents. “We want to work with the things that are already here,” the SCRC rep said of utilizing bluestone on the façade.
Currently, the Blue Ridge site is the only proposal being considered. It would have no impact on district taxpayers
Audience member Cindy Cisen said, “If you want to reach older people…you’ll have to reach for more education. You have to get a mindset of people who want to lead a healthier life.”