Three days before The Hub opened, one Redmond swim-team family was back at practice in the old Cascade Swim Center. They had expected to be in the new building already. A swim-team mother told The Bulletin the family uses a pool three to four times a week. Construction delays had moved the opening from July to September, so they spent more of the summer in the old pool than they had planned.
That was the last stretch of a system Redmond had outgrown. This November is the first winter with The Hub, the Redmond Area Park and Recreation District's 56,000-square-foot recreation center at SW 35th Street and Lava Avenue. Its biggest change is separation. Lap swimmers, water-fitness classes, toddlers, teenagers with a basketball and parents who need 90 minutes to themselves each get their own space. For decades, most of them waited for the same water.
The 1979 Pool Was Doing Every Job at Once
Cascade Swim Center opened in 1979 next to Redmond High School. The district leased it from the Redmond School District. According to The Bulletin, it was built when Redmond had about 6,000 people. Before the opening, RAPRD executive director Katie Hammer explained to the paper what that meant in practice:
"When we have a fitness class, a water fitness class, we have sometimes 40 or 50 people in there and it takes up the whole pool and so then the lap swimmers can't swim during those times. The community's really outgrown this space."
A full pool meant a closed pool for anyone who came to do something else. The Bulletin also reported that the school district has no plans for the old building, and whether it will be torn down is still unclear.
What The Hub Split Apart
Voters narrowly approved a $49 million bond in November 2022 to build The Hub. Central Oregon Daily reported that talks about the center started in 2008. Each part of the building takes over a use that once had to share space:
- Lap pool. Eight lanes, 25 meters, built for swim competitions and water polo.
- Leisure pool. A three-foot pool kept at 86 degrees, connected to a lazy river, with a hot tub and a separate water slide.
- Gymnasium. Courts set up for basketball, pickleball and volleyball, with an indoor walking track running along them.
- Fitness floor. Free weights, machines and treadmills, plus two multipurpose workout rooms for classes like Zumba, kickboxing and yoga.
- Community rooms. Two multipurpose rooms for parties and classes, a rentable conference room, a small kitchen for cooking classes and a wellness room.
- Locker rooms. Separate men's and women's locker rooms plus private family changing rooms.
This matters most in the pool schedule. RAPRD's timetable for November 1–7 runs lap swim and water walking, leisure-pool recreation swim, aqua-fitness classes, lessons and water-polo practice through the same week, across two bodies of water. Weekday lap swimming starts at 4:30 a.m., and weekend recreation swim runs from 1 to 5 p.m. A 50-person water-fitness class no longer closes the pool to lap swimmers. The class and the lane swimmers can be in the water at the same hour.
Child Watch serves the same purpose for parents. It runs Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. for children ages 6 months to 6 years, with a 90-minute limit and a $5 charge per visit. The morning block lines up with The Hub's 9:15 a.m. classes, including Powercut Plus on Mondays and Wednesdays and Yoga Strong on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The Open Gym Bend Doesn't Have
The gymnasium may be the space with no precedent in the region. Sports coordinator Chris Davis told the Redmond Spokesman that The Hub's open-gym basketball courts are the only ones in Central Oregon run by a park and recreation district. In the same report he noted that Bend Park and Recreation District's Juniper Swim & Fitness Center and Larkspur Community Center have no open gym.
Within the two-week soft opening, Davis told the Spokesman he had already noticed kids being dropped off right after school to play basketball. The court schedule has more than pickup games. The Spokesman listed basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer and pickleball leagues, a futsal program, Kendo, a Japanese martial art of fencing, and springboard diving.
High-desert winter afternoons get dark early, and a public court with a walking track around it gives Redmond an indoor option it did not have before.
The November Days Off School
RAPRD's November pool schedule includes extra recreation swims on the days students are out of class, along with one full closure:
- Wednesday, Nov. 11. No-school recreation swim, 2 to 4:30 p.m.
- Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 23–25. No-school recreation swim, 2 to 4:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26. The Hub is closed for Thanksgiving.
- Friday, Nov. 27. No-school recreation swim, 2 to 4:30 p.m.
RAPRD's current schedule page lists building hours of 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. Entry closes 15 minutes before closing, and the district says hours may change with program needs and attendance. Pool times come out as weekly timetables, so the lane schedule for one week may not match the next.
December brings youth and adult swim lessons in the lap pool, running December 1 through 31 at $63 for residents and $82 for non-residents.
What a Winter of Visits Costs
The Hub charges two rates. One is for people who live inside the district boundary, and one is for everyone else. Hammer told Central Oregon Daily the in-district discount is a thank-you to the community for passing the 2022 bond. Sign-up asks for an address, and staff may verify it. Selected adult and household prices from RAPRD's admission fee page:
| Pass | Adult, in-district | Adult, out-of-district | Household, in-district | Household, out-of-district |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | $8 | $10.50 | $24 | $31.50 |
| 10-visit | $68 | $88.50 | $204 | $265.50 |
| 30-day | $78 | $101.50 | $156 | $203 |
| 3-month | $218 | $283.50 | $436 | $567 |
| 12-month | $624 | $811.50 | $1,248 | $1,622.50 |
Household passes cover up to six people. Children ages 18 months to 15 pay $5 a day in-district, and seniors 60 and older pay $6.
At in-district rates, the 10-visit adult pass works out to $6.80 a visit. The 30-day pass costs about the same as ten drop-in visits, so it saves money for anyone who comes more than about twice a week. The annual adult pass averages $52 a month, a third less than buying a new 30-day pass every month. The annual household pass averages $104 a month for up to six people. A family coming three or four times a week, like the swim-team household in The Bulletin's story, would spend as much on household drop-ins as the annual pass costs within three to four months.
One newcomer at the Oct. 3 grand opening told the Redmond Spokesman she had come from places where it's "pretty expensive," and called the pricing "totally fine for a taxpayer."
The Outdoor Half Is Still Under Construction
When The Hub held its grand opening, crews were still working outside. The plan includes a turf field, more pickleball courts and a park with age-separated playgrounds. Davis told the Spokesman the goal is to finish them by the end of the year. Once they are done, RAPRD can move its soccer leagues to the center. Those leagues now play at High Desert Sports Complex.
The fields would extend the same idea outdoors. Soccer would join the swimming, classes, pickup basketball and child care already gathered at one address on the southwest side.
If you're looking at a home in or around Redmond and want to know how its address fits with The Hub and the district's in-district rates, Heather Osgood is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.
