Children leapt for joy and packed the Canyon Country Community Center on Monday to take part in afterschool recreational and learning activities.
Throughout last year, about 12,000 residents visited the community center on the corner of Flying Tiger Drive and Sierra Highway in a center that totals three rooms and 3,220 square feet—just a bit more than some new homes in the Santa Clarita Valley.
“We have outgrown this space,” said Recreation Coordinator Glena Kristensen.
“The new center allows us to enhance what we’re doing here in the current facility,” Community Services Administrator Hope Horner said. “This was always intended to be a temporary location.”
The city hopes to have the new 20,000 square-foot Canyon Country Community Center on the northeast corner of Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road open by 2020.
“We’ll be able to serve that many more people with all the enrichment programs that we have here, as well as I’m sure adding some new programs based on community interest,” Horner said.
The center’s LEAP program, or Learning, Enrichment, Activities Program has attracted nearly 75 children for weekday afternoons, but a new community center could attract 100 or even 200 children. It’s one of several programs at the center including: Toddler and youth classes, the iTeens program, birthday parties, Family Fun Nights, recreational activities for adults of all ages including senior programs, activities and services. Most of the existing programs will move over into the new center.
Most of the programs are free or low-cost, Kristensen said.
The new space will be adaptable to different activities, such as sports, fitness, classes, camps and workshops, as well as a kitchen to be used for community events and cooking classes.
