Sep 20, 2023 _ news

Realizing a Dream in Rushville

The community of Rush County, Indiana has officially broken ground on the transformation of an abandoned big box store into the Rush County Recreation, Education, and Collaboration (REC) Center.

The new REC center is designed to break down social, economic, and physical barriers to promote connectivity, growth, and togetherness by collocating vital community services. Organized around a central zone called Main Street the project uses the building’s large, open spaces to provide a welcoming public space that allows visitors to see everything REC offers, including the Rushville Public Library, the Rush County Community Assistance Food Pantry, a new childcare center, shared office space for social service agencies, and a fitness center with a family pool and basketball court.

The REC Center is bringing new life to an abandoned Walmart store with an updated façade, new entry canopy, and parking lot turned public plaza. These changes are designed to help transform public perception about the building and create a new narrative about its place in the community. Exterior façade improvements will also enhance the thermal efficiency of the center; by increasing the amount of natural daylight coming into the building we’re creating a more uplifting environment while helping to reduce lighting loads.

John McCane, a former mayor of Rushville and now the executive director for Rush County Economic Development noted that this project will bring much needed social services, like childcare, to the area, and provide the community’s first-ever indoor pool. Said McCane, “As young people look at places where they’re going to move and raise their families, having the opportunity to be in a community that’s got these facilities is going to be a blessing to them.”

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More news about the project here.
Read our insight about the new REC Center here.
See our other adaptive reuse projects here.