It's Been Ten Years. Ridgefield's Community and Recreation Center Is Finally Getting Built.
The design is in. Permits are nearly done. Construction starts this summer. Here's everything you need to know about the facility this town has been waiting on since 2016.
I want to be careful not to jinx this, but: it's happening. The Ridgefield Community and Recreation Center is in final permitting, construction is expected to begin this summer, and the renderings are out. Two pools. An indoor gym with an elevated track. A teaching kitchen. A teen gaming room. Multi-purpose community rooms. The whole thing designed to look like it belongs here — exposed wood, natural setting, a trail running through the site.
For anyone who has lived here a while, this project has been the "when is that rec center happening" conversation at every block party, school event, and city meeting for nearly a decade. The answer, finally, is: now.
What's Actually Going to Be in There
The design has been refined over the years but the headline amenities have remained consistent with what residents were first shown. Here's what the current plans include:
- Lap pool
- Leisure / family pool
- Indoor gym
- Elevated walking and running track
- Fitness center
- Locker rooms
- Multi-purpose community rooms
- Teaching kitchen
- Teen gaming room
- Multi-use trail on site
- Outdoor programming areas
The building is designed to sit within a natural, park-like setting — exposed wood, large south-facing windows, landscaping that works with the existing slopes and vegetation rather than leveling everything flat. The design team identified roughly $5.3 million in savings by adjusting the building's placement on the site to follow the natural grade, which is not nothing.
It's also worth noting that this is technically two buildings in one. The structure will function as a seamless public facility, but is legally two separate centers: a recreation center and a community center. The community center piece is specifically designed to fill a gap that opened when the Ridgefield Community Library expanded in 2019 and the old community center space was absorbed into it. The City will own and operate the community center portion.
"It fills a need that was created when the former Community Center transitioned into our new and amazing expanded library, but leaving a gap, leaving a hole in our system that our community has missed." — City Manager Steve Stuart
Ten Years Is a Long Time — Here's the Short Version
This project started with a feasibility study in 2016. For anyone keeping track, that's before a lot of people who have since moved to Ridgefield even knew Ridgefield existed. Including me - I was still kicking it in Jersey back then. The fact that it's finally reaching construction is worth understanding in context, because the path here was not smooth.
2016
City commissions a feasibility study for a recreation center. Land is identified and eventually acquired.
2019
The Ridgefield Community Library expands, absorbing the existing community center space. A new community hub is now needed, not just a rec center.
2021
Aetta Architects signs a contract with the City to design and permit the facility. The YMCA of Columbia-Willamette is identified as a development partner.
2022–2023
Pandemic-driven construction cost increases and lower post-COVID YMCA membership nationally force a major redesign. The single large building becomes two legally separate but functionally seamless buildings — a recreation center and a community center.
Spring 2025
Original groundbreaking target. The project misses this date as final design and permitting work continues.
August 2025
The YMCA of Columbia-Willamette withdraws from the project entirely, citing an inability to raise the capital required. The City announces it is moving forward regardless — the project design already anticipated this possibility and is structured for phased construction and alternative partnerships.
December 2025
City Manager Steve Stuart confirms to the City Council that the project remains on timeline and budget. The facility is at 90% design completion and entering the permitting phase.
Now — Summer 2026
Final permitting in progress. Construction expected to begin Summer 2026. Build timeline is approximately 16 months.
About That YMCA Situation
I want to address this directly because a lot of people have been following this project and some will remember it was originally pitched as a YMCA partnership. The YMCA of Columbia-Willamette pulled out last August. Their CEO had been saying for some time that post-pandemic membership numbers made a large capital commitment difficult — nationally, YMCAs were budgeting for about 60% membership return, not 100%, and that has significant downstream effects on what they can finance and build.
It's worth being clear about what this does and does not mean. The YMCA is not gone from Ridgefield. Their programming here — summer camps, senior programming, community events — continues. What they stepped away from was the financial partnership to purchase and operate the recreation center portion of the building. That's a meaningful distinction.
Key point: The City says the project will be completed without raising taxes or increasing costs to Ridgefield residents. The facility was designed from the start with flexibility for different partnership models and phased construction. Mayor Matt Cole has said the City is actively seeking a new partner for the recreation center component — and that if no partner is found, the facility can still be built in phases.
Mayor Cole's statement on the YMCA departure was notably direct: "We recognized the Y's uncertainty around its ability to raise the necessary capital for this project. While we hoped that the YMCA would be our partner, we remain committed to delivering a high-quality community and recreation center for Ridgefield residents." And then, characteristically: "While we understand the YMCA's decision, we also believe this was a missed opportunity."
That's not throwing anyone under a bus — it's just saying the quiet part out loud. A fast-growing city like Ridgefield, with the demographics it has, is a strong market for a facility like this. The City believes it, and the project is moving forward on that basis.
One More Thing: The Roads Around It
The facility isn't just a building — it's bringing infrastructure changes with it. A new roundabout is planned on Pioneer Street to handle traffic access to the center and into the east end of Discovery Ridge. If you've driven Pioneer lately, you know that intersection area is going to need some attention as the project comes online. Worth keeping an eye on the Ridgefield Roundtable for updates on that piece of the puzzle too.
Want to stay in the loop? The Ridgefield Roundtable project page at ridgefieldroundtable.org/rec-center has the full rendering gallery, FAQ, and a follow button to get updates directly. As of this post, 80 community members are already subscribed.
For What It's Worth
I've lived here long enough to have fielded a lot of "so when is that rec center actually happening" questions at school pickups. For years the honest answer was some version of "I genuinely don't know." A pandemic intervened. Costs ballooned. The YMCA partnership went sideways. The timeline slipped more than once.
And yet here we are. The City kept the land, kept the design team, kept the vision intact, and found a way to get the project to construction without asking residents to absorb extra costs. That is not nothing. That's ten years of a community wanting something and a city working to actually deliver it.
Two pools, a gym, a track, a teaching kitchen, a teen space, and a community room — in a building designed to look like it belongs in the Pacific Northwest. I'll take it.
Have questions about the project, or just want to talk about what you're most excited for? Drop a comment or reach out — this is exactly the kind of Ridgefield story this site is here to follow.
