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Firstenburg Community Center celebrates 10th anniversary

Families among many who enjoy day of free admission and activities

By Katie Gillespie, Columbian Education Reporter
Published: April 23, 2016, 7:41pm
4 Photos
Curtis Hale swims with his 2-year-old daughter, Livia, at the Firstenburg Community Center pool Saturday. A number of families filled the center on a day of free admission and activities. Louise Allen of Vancouver Parks and Recreation called the facility an &quot;all-purpose&quot; space for the entire community.
Curtis Hale swims with his 2-year-old daughter, Livia, at the Firstenburg Community Center pool Saturday. A number of families filled the center on a day of free admission and activities. Louise Allen of Vancouver Parks and Recreation called the facility an "all-purpose" space for the entire community. (Natalie Behring/ The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Tuckered out from a morning of swimming and aerobics, Kathy Evans and her daughter, niece and nephew took a short break to rest on a bench at the Firstenburg Community Center.

The family was pleasantly surprised Saturday morning when they arrived at the fitness facility to find that it was the center’s 10th anniversary celebration — and that entrance for the four was free.

“I did not realize,” Evans said, adding that the center is “really wonderful.”

The Firstenburg Community Center marked its decade in the facility at 700 N.E. 136th Ave. with free admission for visitors, swimming classes and sessions on Sadri’s Summit, the facility’s 27-foot-high climbing wall. Crowds of families — and those hard at their usual weekend workout — filled the facility.

Louise Allen, a fitness recreation specialist who has worked for the Vancouver Parks and Recreation department since 1998, called the community center an “all-purpose” space for the entire community.

“It gives people that may not have access to some of the other private entities chances for their kids to come in and enjoy,” she said.

And as for the next 10 years?

Heidi Marshall, a fitness program coordinator, said there’s more to come.

“We see it growing and getting better,” Marshall said. “Our program areas are expanding.”

Evans, for one, welcomes the idea of future expansions.

“For things for people and kids to go and do, there’s not a lot of things to do in Vancouver anymore,” Evans said. “This is basically it.”

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Columbian Education Reporter