The community can now enjoy Bellamy Recreation Center as it has fully opened back up to the public as of this week.
The rec center has different type of activities available to the public such as walking, basketball, Tai Chi classes and bingo. Guests must wear masks to the rec center when visiting and practice social distancing. The rec center is free for guests to come in. The only thing that is asked of guests is that they sign in and keep their masks on at all times.
According to Recreation Program Manager Alyssa Bradshaw, COVID-19 vaccinations are rolling out more giving the center more confidence to open it’s doors again.
“We just feel that we’re able to safely do these activities with the number of COVID-19 cases that are on the decline,” Bradshaw stated. “We’re sanitizing our centers and keeping things socially distant.”
There is capacity of 200 people in the gym but Bradshaw confidently expressed that she doesn’t believe that there will be that many people in there at any given point on any particular day.
The Bellamy Recreation Center was closed from March until September of last year and then they were on a very limited schedule until this past Monday. The only thing people could do in the gym was walk. They could not play basketball; they could only shoot around so it was more individual. They didn’t run any programs such as bingo or Golden Age Fun Club which is a social activity for senior citizens to come and eat dinner and spend time with each other.
Golden Age Fun Club, for adults ages 50 and older, is every Friday night. It has yet to officially start back up but Bradshaw predicts that it will restart in May.
“For over a year now the public has not been able to really do anything,” Bradshaw stated. “I mean they were able to access our parks full time. Our parks never closed. We did close our playground for a certain period of time due to social distancing guidelines and sanitation guidelines. But, now they’re fully open.”
Bradshaw went on to say that people could not participate in any sports leagues or socialize in their center. She stated that she believed that a lot of the senior citizens in the community missed being able to socialize with one another.
“I think it is important for there to be a space where people could come to socialize and to work on their health,” the recreation program manager commented.
The Bellamy Recreation Center staff consists of Bradshaw and the Bellamy Center Assistant Vonnie McNeil. Bradshaw’s main responsibilities at the rec center is to oversee the Bellamy Center and the Royal Lane Pool. The Royal Lane Pool will reopen at full capacity, 200 people, on Memorial Day weekend. Bradshaw again does not feel that they will reach that capacity unless a special event is going on.
“The Bellamy Center has been around since the ’90s and it’s just a place where people feel comfortable,” Bradshaw stated. “They can come at no costs. It’s relatively a central location especially for people who live across the street in the Royal Lane Apartments. It’s just accessible for people and they feel comfortable and they want to come out.”
Bradshaw noted that the rec center has seen some new faces in the last two days of being open which she noted as a great thing. She also expressed that it’s nice to hear basketballs bouncing and people laughing. She stated that a quiet center is never a good thing and that the staff there was excited to have noise again.
“It was an eerie feeling,” Bradshaw added. “A quiet recreation center is just weird. So I do look forward to seeing a crowded center and people coming in to do programs.”
The recreation program manager stated that people will gradually come back to the center when they feel more comfortable to do so. They have already started seeing an upward trend when people were able to get their vaccinations.
According to Bradshaw, people were excited to hear they could play basketball again and they have seen more kids come in to play the sport.
“It’s a safe space for people to come,” Bradshaw shared. “They could come and work on health goals, they can come and socialize. They could still social distance if that is what they choose to do. I just want to Bellamy Center and all of our parks and rec to be a space for people to come back to.”
The Bellamy Recreation Center was named after Walter Bellamy and built in 1994, according to Bradshaw. He was a former Director for the center. The rec center is trying to branch out with the type of programs they offer. For instance, they have begun a sign-up for adult flag football.
“We want to do new and exciting things,” Bradshaw shared. “We want people to want to do our programs. I think everybody’s tired of doing the same old things.”
Bradshaw stated that basketball is one of the more popular things to do at the rec center and once the word gets out, more people will show up to the center.
“March 2020 everything stopped for us and it was really sad,” Bradshaw attested.
She added that unless governor guidelines change, the rec center is open back up for good. The Bellamy Recreation Center has officially unlocked their doors.
Brendaly Vega Davis can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 2588.
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April 10, 2021 at 04:44PM
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Bellamy Center fully reopens to public - Sampson Independent
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