The
Pleasant Prairie RecPlex is a recreational facility in
Kenosha County, Wisconsin
Kenosha County is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 169,151 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth most populous county in Wisconsin. The county shares the same name as the city of Kenosh ...
. "The Largest Municipal
Recreational Facility in
America", it consists of 302,000 square feet
in Prairie Springs Park on the shores of Lake Andrea.
History
Planning for the RecPlex began in 1998. WisPark donated $4 million for its construction, after previously providing $1.6 million to construct Prairie Springs Park.
Construction began with a
groundbreaking ceremony
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
on October 12, 1999, and the RecPlex opened almost a year later, on October 1, 2000.
The facility included a 17,000 square foot
leisure pool, a 60,000 square foot
field house
Field house or fieldhouse is an American English term for an indoor sports arena or stadium, mostly used for college basketball, volleyball, or ice hockey, or a support building for various adjacent sports fields, e.g. locker room, team room, coac ...
, an 8,000 square foot
fitness center
A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.
In recent years, the number of fitness and health se ...
, a 1/6-mile suspended
track,
changing rooms, a child-care area and a
snack bar
A snack bar usually refers to an inexpensive food counter that is part of a permanent structure where snack foods and light meals are sold.
Description
A beach snack bar is often a small building situated high on the sand. Besides soft dri ...
.
On January 12, 2004, construction began for an addition to the RecPlex. A new, larger fitness center, more changing rooms, an expanded child-care area,
racquetball
Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...
courts, a multi-purpose
studio, and party rooms were all added. In total, the facility's area increased by 42,000 square feet. Separately, a 79,000 square foot ice arena, with two NHL-sized
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
s and additional amenities, was also constructed.
In late 2008, a second major expansion was announced.
An
Olympic-sized swimming pool
An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cou ...
would be built, with $8 million in funding from
Uline
Uline is a privately held American company which offers shipping and other business supplies. It was founded in 1980 by Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. It has more than 8,000 employees and is headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. It has ...
,
which was in the process of moving from
Waukegan, Illinois
''(Fortress or Trading Post)''
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, blank_emblem_size = 150
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to
Pleasant Prairie.
The Village broke ground for the pool on June 22, 2009 and completed it almost a year later, on June 10, 2010. The 42,000 square foot expansion also included related amenities, as well as seating for approximately 600 spectators. Water and air in the pool is heated and cooled with
geothermal technology placed in the adjacent Lake Andrea.
Ultraviolet technology, similar to that installed in the original aquatic center, is used to treat the water.
References
External links
*
Protected areas of Kenosha County, Wisconsin
{{KenoshaCountyWI-geo-stub