Executive Director Tim McCoy says the new Chief Logan Rec Center in Chief Logan State Park could be open as early as December.

Finishing touches on the building are taking place right now and final shipments of exercise equipment are currently coming in.

The new facility is being built by the state on park property, but, when completed, the keys will be turned over to the Chief Logan Recreation Center Inc., which will have to pay the operating expenses on its own including some steep monthly utility bills, McCoy said.

The rec center will be open 362 days a year from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, with extended hours during the summer months, McCoy said. It will be closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Target date for the facility to be open is in late December, McCoy said.

The facility is not a part of the Conference Center or lodge at Chief Logan Park, but will work closely with them.

McCoy discussed the origins of the multi-million dollar project as well as his own background in public health and fitness with members of the Kiwanis Club of Logan on Oct. 29.

McCoy is a lifelong native of Logan County and is the former director of the Larry Joe Harless Center in Gilbert.

He said that when he graduated from college with a degree in adult fitness in the mid-1980s, he wondered where he would find work back home. But McCoy and his wife did find work locally.

"In 1984, I was not able to use my degree well," McCoy joked, saying his experiences working jobs in the school system and as a social worker among other places helped him later when he directed the Larry Joe Harless Community Center in Gilbert.

"I really enjoyed my time as the director there," he explained. “But, there is no place like home."

McCoy has been back in Logan County for the past 10 months trying to figure out how to make the multi-million project be self-sufficient. He said building a $5.5 million recreation center is not the hard part.

"Coming up with operating expenses year in and year out will be the hard part," McCoy said, adding that he believes the new rec center, which is at the base of the hill near the Chief Logan State Park Convention Center, will be an asset to the community.

"I don't think we will have a problem with the building being utilized," McCoy said.

McCoy emphasized that the facility will be a community recreation center similar to the Harless Center and the community centers in South Charleston and nearby Inez, Ky., and won’t be a country club.

Memberships will be around $360 a year for a family of four, "which is less than a dollar a day," he said. Adult memberships will be $250 a year for ages 18 and up with senior citizens memberships being $190 a year age 60 and up with student memberships for 17 and younger at $160 a year.

McCoy said there will be a fine line to be tread in regards to hosting paying programs at the center and having plenty of opportunity for regular use of the structure.

"If we try to pay for the buildings operating costs with the tennis court alone, we will come up short," McCoy said, noting that he hopes to see swimming leagues, martial arts classes, gymnastics classes and other programs hosted at the rec center. Operating expenses are expected to top out at $450,000 a year.

McCoy said he recently received the first utility bill for the center which was $6,000 — just for electricity.

"And we are not even finished and opened yet," he said. "When we are up and running, we estimate it will be $7,000 a month. Obviously, 12 people playing tennis an hour won't meet the utility bills."

McCoy said that, in addition to programs and memberships, the facility is looking into sponsorships, donations and grants to meet operating expenses. Renting out portions of the building for birthday parties and wedding receptions could also help make ends meet.

McCoy said the people of Logan County will have to get behind the Rec Center and support it to help keep the doors open. McCoy said he is looking at some health awareness issues as a way of getting people in the doors.

"Most of us know, we are ranked number three in the nation in health and fitness,"McCoy said. "Thank Heaven for Mississippi and Alabama. Logan County is No. 1 in obesity in West Virginia, No. 2 in diabetes and No. 3 in strokes. We need to develop a mindset of lifelong health and fitness through programs like walking and swimming. It won't be easy but it is a worthy cause."

The facility will employ around 20 people with two full-time employees on staff and most of the rest being part time, minimum-wage jobs.

"You have to remember we have a tight budget," he said. The building will also feature extensive security cameras and alarms for two reasons — to avoid theft and break-ins, as well as to keep people from sneaking in without paying.