This week, I went and checked out .
Located at the intersection of James St/East 30th (50 East 30th Avenue), Riley Park Community Center literally has everything you need. Everything! Like an ice arena, indoor pool, baseball diamonds, pottery studio, games room, fitness center, gym...
The Percy Norman Pool is a sight in itself. Rumored to be replaced, the pool is a great little indoor, useful for swimming laps and practicing your diving (or falling...) There is a whirlpool as well as a sauna, so after your 2 or 3 laps, you can relax with the older patrons who seem to make this pool home.
Adjacent to the pool is the fitness center. In all of the fitness centers I have been to, Riley's is probably the least stocked, and is the smallest. There are a few treadmills, but the weights and universals are ancient... so it's not a great destination for a workout.
The Riley Park Ice Arena is your typical arena. On the weekends, the public skate is pretty hectic, but the skate cops tend to keep everything under wraps. It is a great place to teach the wee ones to skate though, lots of cones to help the kids get their balance.
The rest of the center is big. There are dance rooms and a gym, gathering rooms and all sorts of outdoor playgrounds.
Like I said earlier, there are plans to replace the whole place, but it would be worth it to check it out before it all gets reno-ed, if even to check out the pool, which is quite a beautiful building.
