Bluemont Community Center: Welcome Back
By Rick Gleason, Director
Rick Gleason
The renovations that the citizens of Bluemont have been working toward since the concept of changing the old school house into a Community Center began in the late 1980s have been completed. Bluemont Community Center owes its existence to a group of dedicated citizens with a vision of a community center in their neighborhood rather than a vacant school building. The building was constructed as a schoolhouse in 1923 and operated until 1963, at which time it became a storage site.
In the mid-1980s, a group of Bluemont citizens began to press the county to use the building as a community center. What started as a building with no heat, no air-conditioning, limited bathrooms, and in need of major renovations — has been transformed into a centerpiece for the community.
In an “if life gives you lemons –make lemonade” lesson — BCC’s after-school children apply a scientific recording approach to accurately track the number of stinkbugs they find in the first days of October.
Although small renovations and repairs have been done through the years, the major renovation began four years ago with the passage of a county bond funding the work and was completed this past August. The renovation costing 2.5 million dollars has transformed the building into a modern facility that still maintains the historical features of the building.
The center is now fully handicapped-accessible and has a modern fire alarm, fire suppression systems, and a state-of-the-art environmentally friendly geothermal heating and cooling system.
The center is again now open Mondays thru Thursday 7:00am-8:30pm, Fridays 6:30am-6:30pm and weekends for special events. The center offers preschool for children ages 2 to 4, a full-time childcare class, after-school care for elementary-age children, fitness classes, art classes and many others. There is a basketball court and playground on the grounds for community use.
Newly refurbished Bluemont Community Center. From the front, it looks like the old Community Center–on purpose.
The staff at the center invite you to stop by for a visit and check out the renovated facility and the programs it offers. We are always looking for new ideas and instructors — so if you have a class you have always wanted to take, or a special skill you would like to teach, drop by or call us at 540-554-8643 to talk to the staff about your ideas.