Leaders of center describe what has changed, improved
Chief Industries Inc. finished most of the interior renovations of the Bremer Community Center this month adding new style, enhancements and rooms to the gathering place off of Highway 14.
Bremer Community Center board president Curran Vetter and project director and executive director Sami Vincent offered a detailed overview of what has changed since construction began in November.
“We’re very happy with how everything turned out. It exceeded expectations,” Vetter said.
“I would say visually, aesthetically for sure, there are significant changes, plenty (more) technology, just better use of this space, interior-wise,” Vincent added.
The center had new flooring installed, curtains removed, updates to the gymnasium, the racquetball court was turned into a multipurpose room and cosmetic changes were made to the offices. The renovation also created larger event spaces, a larger kitchen, more storage, while two new bathrooms were also converted from the locker rooms and a family restroom was converted from the former men’s restroom.
Starting with two of the event and conference rooms on the north and south side, both were made bigger, with the south room now large enough to accommodate 300 people, according to Vincent.
“Our capacity changed significantly for those spaces,” she said.
The gymnasium floor was resanded, restriped and refinished and the gym was connected to a storage room that also connects to the multipurpose room, according to Vetter.
New paint and flooring were given to each room in the building and a new sprinkler system was also installed to provide fire safety.
The kitchen was also given a do-over as there is more pantry and cabinet space, two new refrigerators as well as an island with a sink in the middle. The stovetops were removed and replaced with a new double oven.
“The number of people you can cater too now for any meal is definitely bigger,” Vetter said.
“It’s double the size,” Vincent said. “We now have a pantry for more storage. There is definitely a lot more cabinet space, a lot more prep space.”
There was also an added capacity for technology. The two mentioned that there were more outlets, three televisions in the south event room and at least one TV in each event and conference room.
Finally, the multipurpose room was given a soft flooring and will be hosting a Taekwondo class as of June 1 with American Taekwondo Association instructor Vern Larson.
“We designed the room specifically for things such as that,” Vetter elaborated.
Vetter expressed interest in getting a youth wrestling club, yoga, tumbling and gymnastics into that room as well.
“We’re just kind of creating spaces and we’re hoping that the activities that aren’t in Aurora, we now have a home for,” he said.
Expenses have come in a bit over the $1 million budget, Vincent reported, though successful fundraising efforts helped offset added costs.
“The construction came in a little over budget, but it was changes that were necessary as we were going through the construction process,” Vetter said. “Our fundraising was very successful with the generosity of Hamilton County. So we exceeded our goal and that gave us the freedom to make changes as construction was going on inside and gives us a little more budget to improve the outside as well.”
A part of those funds, $250,000 as reported in August, is to be utilized for the outdoor facility/park area which will include a basketball court on the east side of the building. Vincent said that she and Vetter were meeting with designers last week and hope to finalize design by mid-summer to start construction towards the fall.
Vincent said that as the renovation in the center concludes, people using the facility for events such as birthday parties, training or graduation parties seemed impressed with the updated look and layout.
“Yeah, they walk in and they say, ‘Wow, this looks awesome’ or ‘This looks so good.’” Vincent concluded. “They’re kind of blown away and very excited about what it looks like and that it’s updated.”
The Bremer Community Center was founded after Bertha G. Bremer gave $350,000 in her will for the establishment of the building in 1968. It took 11 years for the center to be built, with its dedication on Oct. 21, 1979. In addition to the meeting and activity rooms, the center houses the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the Aurora Development Corporation offices.