PERRYVILLE FACILITY OFFERS OPTIONS; CENTER OFFERS ENTERTAINMENT FOR COMMUNITY

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Ask children around here what they did during the summer before the Perry Park Center.

They'll say, "Nothing."

Although the response seems exaggerated, the $9.5 million center that opened a little over a year ago has given residents recreation options they never had before.

With an indoor pool and running track, racquetball courts, Perryville's library, movie theater and numerous special events, the facility has remained busy since it opened, said Carrie Buerck, marketing director.

About 200 come to the center daily, she said.

Thirteen-year-old Jacob DeWilde does his part to boost attendance. DeWilde comes to the center seven days a week to use the weight room and pool to get in shape for baseball and football.

Before the center, DeWilde said he'd come infrequently to the park's outdoor pool.

"Usually, I did nothing," DeWilde said.

The center has been built around the 12 year-old pool, Buerck said, because it attracts the most visitors on a daily basis.

But the facility's centerpiece has been a starting point for some first-year problems. Last fall a leak was discovered in the pool, which was repaired in October.

A more persistent problem has been contamination. The pool has been closed about 20 times this year when the water was contaminated.

It takes about 12 hours to drain and clean the pool every time a contaminant is discovered.

The director has placed a sign-in list at the pool that swimmers are supposed to fill out. The idea is to check the list each time human contamination is found, Buerck said. The names will be turned over to the police.

Tina Luckey of Perryville said she comes to the pool four times a week with children's groups. She can't recall how many times she has been turned away because of the problem.

Luckey doesn't like the indoor pool, but the reason isn't obvious.

"I miss the sun," she said, but the movie theater and track make up the difference.

The theater, which belongs to the Wehrenberg Theatres group, shows first-run films Friday through Tuesday. With one movie showing nightly at 7, plus an afternoon matinee on Sunday, it gives residents around Perryville something they haven't had in years for no more than $4 a show, Buerck said.

Some of the films that have run this summer include "The Perfect Storm," "Big Momma's House" and "Disney's The Kid."

The 417-seat theater does run R-rated shows, but selectively. No one under 17 is allowed in, Buerck said.

The policy has created both positive and negative responses. Luckey said it shows more respect to parents.

One parent was upset she couldn't take her child to see "The Patriot," Buerck said.

"We try hard to make the center family friendly," she said.

The policy has made staffing movies harder for the center. Many of the employees are 17 or younger.

"When the R-rated films start, we have to get them out of the theater," Buerck said. "They clean up somewhere or go to the concession stand."

The new addition of video games follows similar rules. The shooting games let players take aim at objects, not people.

Sports options are wide open at the center. Two full-sized basketball courts are below a 1.1 mile padded track in an auditorium that seats more than 3,000 people.

It was about half full when the Charlie Daniel's Band played there in June, Buerck said.

Other events that have been held in the gym include a 75-vendor home show that drew more than 2,500 people in April, and a basketball game played on donkeys in October. The donkeys didn't damage the court, Buerck said.

"They had to wear little rubber shoes," she said.

An Hawaiian luau will come to the gym in a few weeks, complete with a roast hog and a Polynesian dance show.

Nine-year-old Wade Nelson didn't want to talk about the luau with a visitor to the center last week. He was busy firing a plastic gun at a video screen.

"Mostly I come here for the pool," Nelson said between shots.

What did Nelson do before the center was opened?

"Nothing," he said.