PELHAM – Construction crews are working to put the final touches on the city of Pelham’s recreation center. Parks and Recreation director Billy Crandall said the facility is about 90 percent complete.

Blalock Building Construction Superintendent Wes Moses said crews are putting the final touches on the rec center. Moses said crews are stripping and sealing the basketball court and just recently completed the striping on the indoor track.

“We’re working on some general finishes,” Moses said. “We’ll have everything ready in a couple of weeks.”

Crandall said construction will be complete and furniture will be moved by mid-December and the facility will likely open to the public at the beginning of 2018. Hours of operation for the rec center will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-6 p.m. on Sundays.

Once the 38,000-square-foot facility opens, a variety of new programs will be offered to the public. One program that Crandall is particularly excited about is youth wrestling.

“Because of the rec center we now have a place to offer youth wrestling,” he said. “I was expecting about 10 kids to sign up, but we ended up with 24.”

Pelham High School wrestling head coach Nick Tucker will serve as the youth wrestling head coach. Dusty Peeler will be the assistant coach.

The full size wrestling mats can also be used for other purposes like exercise classes and self defense courses, Crandall said. There might also be opportunities for wrestling tournaments.

With the number of basketball courts in close proximity to the rec center, Crandall said the city will be ideal for basketball tournaments. The rec center features two full basketball courts.

“There’s one at the middle school and two at the high school, giving us a total of 5 courts all within about a mile of each other,” Crandall said. “I think we can attract both youth and adult tourneys.”

Crandall said he expects to have at least 10 instructors teaching various workout classes at the facility. Classes offered will include spin class, ReFit, Zumba, Zumba kids, Zumba gold for seniors, various types of yoga, pilates, TRX suspension, strength training, senior fit class, senior cardio class, standard cardio, kid fit and CPR and first aid.

“We want to utilize our local resources by getting the police department involved in our self defense class and the fire department involved with CPR/first aid class,” Crandall said.

Other programs offered will include youth and adult indoor volleyball and adult and youth indoor basketball. Patrons will have access to an indoor track and a weight room.

Residents will have to be a rec center member to utilize the indoor track, basketball courts and weight equipment. The cost of membership is $10 per month for one person and $20 per month for a family. There isn’t a cap on the number of people that can be included in a family membership.

Residents will receive a discount if they pay for a yearlong membership upfront. Instead of $120 for yearlong single membership, residents will pay $100, and $200 instead of $240 for a yearlong family membership.

Initially, membership will be reserved for Pelham residents only.

However, the membership will not cover the cost of exercise classes. Nonmembers and those who do not reside in Pelham will be allowed to pay for and attend exercise classes. The costs of the exercise classes have not been determined.

“The great thing about it is that it’s a blank slate and a great opportunity to give people exactly what they want,” Crandall said.