Cookeville Leisure Services celebrating the Cane Creek Recreation Center’s 20th anniversary, recognizing a community gathering spot.
Recreation Superintendent Cara Sheets said the center plays a valuable role in the community, providing a place for community members to grow friendships through physical activities and classes. Sheets said the park landscape and center looked different when the department first opened the center, before many park amenities and center classes were implemented.
“When I think about how much we’ve grown in the last 20 years, I’m kind of baffled,” Sheets said. “It was very quiet here. Didn’t have any daytime classes. And, like I said before, we didn’t have very much foot traffic. People didn’t know we were here. And now it is just on fire all day, and we have programs from early in the morning to late at night.”
Sheets said many people enter the center because the facility is located near park activities. Sheets said people often enter the recreation center to see friends. Cane Creek opened in October, 2005.
Sheets said some people finish outdoor activities, then begin center activities, like pickelball.
“It just gives a place for people to come in,” Sheets said. “We’ve had a lot of relationships built, and I think that’s one of our things that we really enjoy the most, is the relationships people have built from our classes and programs.”
Sheets said the center has expanded staff capacity, allowing for more community opportunities. Sheets said the recreation center began with two full-time, one part-time and a handful of seasonal camp employees. Sheets said the center has increased employment to five full-time workers, with eight temporary positions.
“It’s just been very good for our department,” Sheets said. “We’ve been able to add so many new programs and classes and events because of those employees.”
Sheets said all changes implemented over the years came from public requests, which were added to the department master plan, such as the dog park, playground and splash pad.
