By Mimi Darley Dutton | [email protected]

The grand opening of the Draper Recreation Center, scheduled for March 30, has been postponed in an effort to help control the spread of the coronavirus. But when it does open to the public, patrons will enjoy approximately 60,000 square feet of amenities including two indoor pools. One is an eight-lane competition pool with observation seating above and the other is a leisure pool with a slide and toys. Those are in addition to the existing, outdoor pool that opens during summer months. The facility also includes a multipurpose room with a wood floor for activities like aerobics, karate and yoga, a fitness room with exercise equipment positioned to take advantage of valley views, a bright and colorful childcare area, and a field house designed for practicing soccer, football and baseball indoors that includes batting cages.

This is the only county recreation center built in recent years and the only one with self-contained changing rooms. Each has a shower, sink and toilet instead of the traditional men’s and women’s locker rooms. Several banks of lockers are positioned throughout the facility for people to secure their belongings. The recreation center was built to LEED specifications and has more than 300 parking spaces. The architectural style is contemporary, a combination of masonry and metal, resembling three cubes put together.

Draper Mayor Troy Walker recently told the Corner Canyon High School swim team, who placed third overall in the 6A State Championship, “We have a brand-new rec center that is about to open in our town. A priority of this council and councils past was to create better swimming opportunities … that was an effort that took a lot of work. You guys are going to be swimming at home in an awesome new pool. We want to thank Salt Lake County, Canyons School District and Draper City who all put money in to make that happen.”