After five years of planning, waiting and hoping, the city of Frontenac’s dream of having its own community fitness center is finally coming true.
Work began this month to turn a former bus barn building on McKay Street into a community recreation center that will be used by both Frontenac residents and the city’s school district, USD 249.
“We’ve been trying to do something like this for five years,” said Dan Brunetti, city administrator and president of the Frontenac Recreation Board. “Finally, everything is coming together for us.”
Working together, the recreation board and the school district plan to convert the former bus barn into a fitness center that would be utilized by Frontenac residents and school students. Part of the facility would feature workout equipment to be used by the community, while the other part would be designated as a weight room and wrestling practice area for the school district.
Brunetti said the estimated cost of the project is $361,000, and would be funded by the city’s recreation board. If all goes as planned, the facility should be completed and ready for use by Aug. 20.
When it opens, Brunetti said it will offer Frontenac residents their own place to exercise, something the city hasn’t had.
“As far as Frontenac goes, there hasn’t been a place or an area indoors where the public could go for recreation,” he said. “What the recreation board and the school district wanted to do was make a statement.”
That statement, Brunetti said, is that the city values recreation and fitness.
“There’s so much attention and so much emphasis put on recreation these days, and we feel it’s important for our entire community,” he said. “So, we took what was an empty building and are going to make something productive out of it.”
Joplin-based architect Elliott Hunter was hired to design the facility, while Crossland Construction is the general contractor on the project.
