Acworth Community Center: A first of its kind for the city

By Cory Sekine-Pettite

The city of Acworth now has its own community center. The new facility on Cherokee Street (at the corner of Cherokee Street and Logan Road near I-75) features 44,000 square feet of space that will see a great deal of use from Acworth residents and visitors/tourists alike. The Acworth Community Center opened in April, so Cobb In Focus spoke with Neely Motiejunas, CPRP, community centers director with the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Resource Department, to get the scoop on all of the details.

This new facility meets a real demand in northern Cobb County. The needs of the community — when it came to athletics, camps, classes, event space, etc. — weren’t being completely met, Motiejunas said. “For example, in previous years we were seeing a wait list of 80 to 100 people each week in our Camp Acworth summer camp program,” she said. “But with the addition of the center and a secondary camp location, we are now able to accommodate those families. Currently, we have 240 kids in the program weekly. Another example is our youth basketball program. We use local schools, but with the addition of the center, we can now expand and take more participants.

Speaking of basketball, included in the new Acworth Community Center are two high school regulation basketball courts, which are also painted for volleyball and pickleball. Additional space is allocated for a multi-purpose classroom, group exercise room, and a banquet hall. The facility will include several rental options for both small- and large-scale events and opportunities for open play and free use of the center’s walking track during normal operating hours. The city already has set up an online schedule showing the exercise classes available at the center, including yoga, kickboxing, and various cardio classes. You can find the schedule at https://bit.ly/2FdtyWx.

“Improving overall quality of life is top of the list for the City of Acworth, and the community center enhances that and supports good quality of life by offering leisure opportunities for individuals of all ages and abilities,” Motiejunas said. “Also, it is a tourism driver for the city, which supports economic development.”

For example, the Tanyard Creek Overlook, a 7,000-square-foot banquet hall that can support events of up to 350 people, is anticipated to become one of the top locations in Acworth for weddings/receptions, upscale corporate events, and celebrations. Tanyard Creek Overlook features 16-foot ceilings, 10-foot arched windows, exposed brick walls, pre-event space, a private terrace, and a state-of-the-art audio/visual system. The setting is surrounded by 10 acres of beautiful green space in Logan Farm Park, offering spectacular views. The city partnered with Saratoga Event Management to help facilitate events.

In addition to the exercise room and gymnasium, the Acworth Community Center already is proving its worth. Motiejunas said the city has hosted several events in the four months since opening the doors. “A week after opening, we hosted a one-thousand-participant state AAU gymnastics meet in the building,” she said. “We are hosting two weddings in Tanyard Creek Overlook [in June], and have more events on the books such has fundraising galas, Christmas parties, a trade show and birthday celebrations, and along with Insider Exposure we are hosting the Atlanta Showcase, which is a NCAA Live Period basketball tournament.”