$600K approved for improvements at Bobby Miller Activity Center in Taylorville

Bobby Miller Center Addition

Jim Davis, program manager with Harrison Construction, talks to Tuscaloosa County Commissioner Bobby Miller and Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority executive director Gary Minor at the addition to the Bobby Miller Center in Tuscaloosa Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. The addition will include an indoor playground, rock climbing wall and two racquetball courts. Construction is expected to be completed by the spring of 2015.

The Bobby Miller Activity Center in Taylorville will soon feature everything from a rock-climbing wall to racquetball courts to a multistory indoor playground.

On Wednesday the Tuscaloosa County Commission unanimously approved $597,000 out of its reserves to furnish an addition to the activity center. The 11,000-square-foot addition, which is under construction and set to open in March, will expand the activity center to around 50,000 square feet, making it the second largest in the county, said Gary Minor, executive director of the Tuscaloosa Park and Recreation Authority.

The money will also be used to buy some updated workout equipment for the center and allow free aerobics classes for members. A party room will be located near an expansive indoor playground area, and the two racquetball courts will be the only public courts available in Tuscaloosa County, Minor said.

The improvements were chosen based on community input, Minor said.

If the building included only a gym, the furnishing cost would have been around $300,000 instead of close to $600,000, but Minor said he expects the new features to attract more users and more money.

Commissioner Bobby Miller, for whom the center is named, agreed.

The commission worked with PARA real well to make this happen, Miller said. I'm tickled to death.

The new amenities will mean a higher cost for users, Minor said. Although PARA has no exact figures on rate increases, rates will likely increase similar to what users pay for the Faucett Brothers Activity Center in Northport.

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$600K approved for improvements at Bobby Miller Activity Center in Taylorville