DeKalb city pumps $100K into repairs at popular recreation center

City officials cut the ribbon on the reopening of the Browns Mill Recreation Center.

Credit: City of Stonecrest

Credit: City of Stonecrest

City officials cut the ribbon on the reopening of the Browns Mill Recreation Center.

A popular recreation center is back open after the city of Stonecrest made repairs and upgrades totaling more than $100,000.

The Browns Mill Recreation Center closed in early August while the city made repairs to the heating and air conditioning system, gymnasium floor, lift station, backflow preventer and more, the city said in a statement this week. It also got a new paint job.

Crews also added a new Wi-Fi and communications system, which includes a flat-screen television at the center’s entrance.

Earlier this year the city purchased eight parks, including the rec center, from DeKalb County, with plans to manage them moving forward. The county has hosted a summer camp for children there every summer.

Officials held a grand reopening ceremony at the center last weekend.

“We took over the parks a couple of months ago and this was one of the centers that needed the most attention,” Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary said in a statement. “I have coached here and brought my son’s up playing at Browns Mill. I am really moved today just watching the progress that we are making in the city. This is the reason we created the city, to make things better.”

» RELATED: DeKalb city plans to replace ‘unsafe playground equipment’ at parks

Stonecrest also applied for a license for Browns Mill through the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

“We are going overboard to make sure this center is clean and safe,” Sean DePalma, Stonecrest’s parks and recreation director, said in a statement.

Stonecrest previously said it planned to make repairs at other parks around the city. Salem and Gregory Mosley parks, officials said, had “unsafe playground equipment.”

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