It’s hard to overstate just how impressive the Austin Community Recreation Center really is.

For the first time, during a donors only open house Wednesday night, the public got a look inside the $36 million completed project and it certainly didn’t fail to impress those on hand for the event.

This is a building that will add further shine to a downtown that has been evolving over the past few years into a true destination center.

Over the eight plus years, this building has gone from conceptual idea to planning and finally construction and finished dream and it serves as one of the highlight visions of Vision 2020.

Beyond the new car smell of the new building and the shine of all its attributes, the Rec Center stands as an example of what people in Austin can truly do when talented and driven people come together. No one person or organization was going to get this built, a collective of people and organizations did.

Hormel Foods Corporation Chairman of the Board, President and CEO James Snee summed up this achievement after the official unveiling Wednesday night.

“It’s huge. It shows the commitment and dedication to this community. They knew this community needed it and the impact it’s was going to have. Beyond that there are just some incredibly generous people in this community.”

Generous people all the way from The Hormel Foundation down through the individual donors made this Austin Community Recreation Center a reality. It’s a testament of community ownership that Austin has put on a project that will benefit all citizens.

We commend all of those who served on the committees that showed the leadership to bring this to fruition. This will be a legacy of Austin and how people came together to make our community a better place.