The executive director of the Eureka Springs Community Center, Anna C. Smedley, Ph.D., is certainly familiar with the facility that used to be the Eureka Springs High School. It is where she attended high school.
“Go Highlanders!” said Smedley, who grew up in Eureka Springs. She moved away after high school to do some “adulting” and then returned home to settle in Eureka Springs in January 2019. She began her job at the Community Center on June 30, 2022, and served on the Community Center Foundation Board of Directors for six months prior to that.
“I had actually been following the evolution of the Community Center long before I moved home,” Smedley said. “I was excited to see the historic campus revitalized, and I really loved the idea of recreational and gathering space that was so easily accessible to locals and visitors. I joined the board as folks were beginning to get out more after we had a vaccine for Covid, and I was excited to find so many community-minded folks. I had been working with my husband at his business for several years and knew shortly after I joined the board that I had found a great organization to invest my time in.”
She shares the vision of the board… a vibrant campus lifestyle, a place for businesses, families, individuals of all ages and diverse groups. This hub for gathering, education, health and recreation has become popular with locals and tourists. The center currently has more than 1,000 members in a town with a population of only about 2,200. About 800 members are active.
The gym is the hub for a lot of activity, including the most popular sport at the community center, pickleball. Pickleball can be described as a blend of tennis, badminton and table tennis with a little chess thrown in because of the strategies that include planning several plays ahead.
While people can play pickleball, basketball and other games during open gym hours, the gym is dedicated to pickleball from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon. While particularly popular with older adults, younger players are also adopting the sport.
“We recently started a youth membership program for kids 12 to 17 and have started seeing an increase in young folks on the pickleball court and at the center in general,” Smedley said. “We are about to offer a Pickleball 101 clinic in March.”
Some local players participate in pickleball competitions throughout the country. Players are rated and complete against players in similar age groups and skill levels. There are now also professional pickleball leagues and tours.
Another popular offering at the Community Center gym is the workout rooms filled with treadmills, stair steppers, free weights and weight machines. There are also classrooms for exercise classes with Zumba dance being one of the more popular. There is a foyer in the gym building with tables, board games, puzzles and library books, and there’s a walking path around the facility. The Eureka Springs Farmers’ Market is open there on Thursdays, and many special activities are held on the grounds of the facilities.
Smedley said she is excited about the youth programming that they have been rolling out. One of their more popular programs is KIDtastic Tuesdays in the gym from 9:30 to 11 a.m., designed for children six and younger. It is open gym playtime for families and there is small, structured activity after the kids get to run around for about an hour.
“And it is free to members and non-members,” Smedley said. “We have also had a really positive response to our teen game night that we just started hosting from 6 to 8 p.m. on the third Friday of every month. also free to members and non-members.”
Memberships are $60 per year for individuals and $100 for families. Many seniors can get free memberships through their Medicare insurance programs. “Silver Sneakers and Silver Fit are great programs that help seniors get access to not only our gym, but also other gyms in the area,” Smedley said.
An additional activity designed to use all the former classroom spaces available at the community center while generating some income is the business center.
“This is a thriving professional space,” Smedley said. “We currently have one small office space for rent but otherwise are at capacity. And we are the future home of the Museum of Eureka Springs Art.”
Smedley has an interdisciplinary background with a Ph.D. in sociology, a Master’s degree in social work, and a graduate certificate in women’s studies. Prior to moving back home to Eureka Springs, she worked at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, focusing on community engagement.
“My students and I worked with local organizations and initiatives to find community-driven solutions to social issues identified by the community members themselves,” she said.
The center is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. It is closed Sundays.
For more information, see the website escommunity.org/.