Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury (RWC) residents and the Northern Neck community will be able to embrace life more fully and with greater access to health programs and other activities thanks to a new Wellness and Creative Arts Center scheduled to open later this year.
Residents and invited guests are invited at 4 p.m. January 26 when a time capsule will be placed inside the new building. A grand opening of the center for the public will follow this spring. The $4.5 million center is being built near the Chesapeake Center on the RWC Campus at 132 Lancaster Drive, Irvington.
Ground breaking and construction officially kicked off on the 18,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in 2015. The center will include an aquatics area, exercise classrooms, fitness equipment, locker rooms and community spaces. The Wellness and Creative Arts Center also will house multipurpose space to support a wide variety of resident interests.
“We have known for a long time that we needed a larger facility to accommodate the many residents who enjoy participating in our programs,” said RWC president Stuart Bunting. “Although we currently have excellent equipment, our small fitness room could not accommodate the needs of our residents and the members of the local community who participate in our programs.”
Some 80% of RWC residents participate in some form of wellness activities. More than 20 fitness classes are held each week, as well as special programs to serve the needs of those with Parkinson’s and their caregivers. RWC is known nationally for its high wellness participation rate among residents and has been recognized by the International Council on Active Aging for its Mind & Muscle speaker series.
Guernsey Tingle of Williamsburg led the design/build team for the project, Bay Design Group is handling the site design and civil engineering and Connemara Corporation is the general contractor.
