Whiteville city leaders break ground on recreation complex addition

WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — Whiteville city leaders broke ground on an expansion of its recreation center Tuesday.

Timothy Collier, Whiteville’s Parks and Recreation Director, said it feels good to be a part of the ground breaking ceremony for the expansion of the recreation complex.

“I grew up here, I have family here and I have friends here so it’s very important to me,” said Collier. “It’s a personal thing and it’s also a good thing for me to give back to the community.”

As a Whiteville native Collier says he wants to help his community and that starts by giving people a place to go to get active. The new recreation complex will include two ball fields, a walking trail and a dog park.

“It’s extremely important. We have always been high on the quality of life for our community. Of course we have been ranked pretty low as far as health wise and so we are looking at addressing some recreational issues,” said Collier.

The County Health Rankings website named Columbus County the lowest as far as health in the state.

“Statistics say that we are the least healthiest county in the state, and I just have to take them on that but what we are trying to do is have people get out and have them be active,” said Collier.

Brahimh Silah, a rec center regular, said the new outdoor activities will be good additions to the current recreation center.

“It’s like the place I come to when I am sad, I’m mad. It’s my refuge,” said Silah. “Now they are building this here its good, it’s good; it’ll give the young people something to do.”

And that’s the whole idea behind this project.

“We want people to get out and be more active and this is going to be a big part of that,” said Collier.

Collier said the project is estimated to cost close to $800,000. The town received a grant for $450,000.

Collier said the current recreation center that was built in 2007, and it was the first in the county.