Since the Bowling Green Training and Community Center opened three months ago, membership has been lower than projected, but the Center’s planners are not breaking a sweat.

The Community Center has sold 366 passes, significantly fewer than the projected membership of 1,500, according to Michelle Grigore, director of Parks and Recreation. The projection was based on the memberships of recreation centers in similarly sized towns.

“Athens, Ohio is a pretty good benchmark for us,” Grigore said. The southern Ohio college town, though slightly smaller than Bowling Green, has two recreation centers – one for students and one for the community.

So far, the Bowling Green Community Center has not made a dent in membership at the Student Recreation Center, according to Pam Sautter, office manager at the SRC. She suggested this may be because the Community Center has not had time to become established.

Grigore said that while the SRC has been well-established for many years, it does not attract many members of the Community Center’s target demographics – young family groups and people ages 55 and up.

“Exercising next to young, fit college students can be intimidating,” she said. “I don’t expect it [the SRC] to dramatically affect our membership ability.”

One advantage the Community Center has over the SRC is a lower price tag on membership. Bowling Green residents can work out at the Community Center for $150 a year, while the SRC charges $350 per year for residents unaffiliated with the University.

While the Community Center’s price for individual membership will increase by $25 next year, Grigore said the cost will still be competitive.

“I think the Student Recreation Center has been meeting the needs of a certain age demographic,” she said. “If they’re going to switch over, it’s probably because of economy.”

At least three University students have made the switch to the Community Center, according to Mike Pollack, program specialist at the Community Center.

“The students who have come here have come because it’s less crowded,” he said.

The 79,000-square foot Community Center, which houses a 1/8 mile track overlooking a gymnasium, a fitness center and a kids’ clubhouse will have to attract many more members within the next three years in order to break even, according to Grigore.

At $11 million, the Community Center was paid for by the city, the Ohio National Guard and the Wood County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

“The direction I’ve been given is to break even,” Grigore said. With winter on the way, people will be more likely to exercise inside and more likely to buy passes, she explained.

According to Grigore, the community has perceived a need for a recreation center since 1974, when the city’s Master Plan was set in place. The 185,000-square foot SRC opened in 1979, but Grigore said a January survey of about 2,000 city residents indicated that 42 percent of residents were interested in a new recreation center.

Grigore said that while increased membership is important to keep the Community Center up and running, the health and fitness of the community is the Center’s top concern.

Listing heart problems and obesity as major threats to the community’s health, Grigore said, “We hope to tap into the folks who may not be exercising. We’re just trying to get people up and moving.”

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