Two! This is the number of days remaining until the new Canyon Country Community Center officially opens to the public. The much-anticipated facility settled along Soledad Canyon Road and Sierra Highway provides a beautifully and thoughtfully crafted building and outdoor space for the Santa Clarita community to enjoy.
Residents and visitors of all ages will have the opportunity to take advantage of the facility by participating in youth and adult sports leagues, enjoying mouthwatering culinary workshops, renting the space for events, browsing art galleries and more. There are truly countless ways to enjoy art, culture and community services in the Canyon Country Community Center and I urge each of you to make time to visit.
If you have driven down Sierra Highway in Canyon Country within the past few months, you are likely to have caught a glimpse of the expertly crafted Community Center. One might regard the building as art itself! The modern architecture coupled with large glass windows adds to the beauty of the community that the facility is housed within. In addition to the picturesque building, visitors can find instances of public art on nearly every corner of the Community Center site.
In the Gateway Plaza, for example, visitors will stroll around the “Communitree.” Constructed by CJR Design and standing at approximately 25 feet in height, the art installation is a metal sculpture of an oak tree with a mixture of colorful acrylic glass oak leaves and happy human forms that make up the canopy, symbolizing the strength of Santa Clarita. In addition to the “Communitree,” visitors will also encounter a sculpturally designed bike rack by Mike Burke, which incorporates a gas pump and nozzles into the unique installation. Other featured artwork includes sidewalk poetry embedded along the facility’s walkways, Katy Krantz’s “Circle Song” ceramic tile wall mural, maintenance hole cover artwork in the Mercado parking lot and other colorful nature-themed sculptures throughout the property.
Another aspect of the new Community Center that I am excited about is the wide variety of community services that residents of Santa Clarita have come to know and love. Children will be able to run and play in the playground onsite, use their imagination in various craft activities, participate in fun after-school programming, make new friends during summer camp events and more. Teens and adults will have the chance to get involved in programming and specialty classes, too, in areas such as art, fitness, recreation, cooking and others. These programs and services for all ages will take place in the nearly 25,000 square feet of indoor space and the 9 acres of active parkland surrounding the building.
The city’s engaging and educational community services offerings will invite individuals to explore the culinary arts in the demo kitchen, pick up a new hobby in the fitness and activity room or enjoy musical performances on the large outdoor stage. The new Canyon Country Community Center was developed with the needs of our diverse and growing community in mind, and I am excited for residents to begin filling the halls, rooms and grounds of the facility in the coming weeks.
I hope you will join the Santa Clarita City Council in celebrating the new Canyon Country Community Center on Saturday at 10 a.m. I am proud of the years of hard work and outstanding care put into this city facility and I know that Santa Clarita residents will be amazed at the results. Bring your family, friends and loved ones for a morning of music, crafts and fun at the city’s newest facility. See you there.
Bill Miranda is a member of the Santa Clarita City Council and can be reached at [email protected].
