PARK FACT:

The aquatic-themed murals lining the pool wall contain more than 175,000 hand-placed mosaic tessarae!

Chelsea Recreation Center

S/s West 25 Street, 9 to 10 avenues

Manhattan

Acres: 0.39

A state-of-the-art facility, the Chelsea Recreation Center is a neighborhood gem that boasts eclectic offerings for New Yorkers of all ages. Chelsea is one of the largest recreation centers in the city, and visitors make full use of its crisp facilities and extensive sports, arts, and educational programming for kids and adults alike. The center features a six-lane, 25-yard pool, a gymnasium with basketball and volleyball courts, plus fitness rooms, a dance studio, a game room, and an arts and crafts room. Fitness classes offered range from gymnastics and ballet to aerobics and yoga. Beyond athletics, the center also hosts teen open mic nights, a hip-hop club, drama hour, and senior painting workshops, to name a few. In addition, the Computer Resource Center provides free computer access and instruction for skills such as word processing, internet use, web design, and desktop publishing.

A state-of-the-art facility, the Chelsea Recreation Center is a neighborhood gem that boasts eclectic offerings for New Yorkers of all ages. When the city completed construction of the center in May 2004, community members watched with pride and excitement as Mayor Bloomberg cut the ribbon on the six-floor, 56,500 square foot activity hub.

This new center is the realization of its eagerly anticipated transformation, a process that began when the old center located on West 28th Street and Ninth Avenue in the former Chelsea Bathhouse closed its doors in the 1960s. Today, visitors can enjoy the center, one of the largest in the city, by taking advantage of its crisp facilities and extensive sports, arts, and educational programming for kids and adults alike. The center features a six-lane, 25-yard pool, a gymnasium with basketball and volleyball courts, plus fitness rooms (cardiovascular and weight training), a dance studio, a game room (foosball, billiards, ping pong), and an arts and crafts room. Fitness classes offered range from gymnastics and ballet to aerobics and yoga. Beyond athletics, the center also hosts teen open mic nights, a hip-hop club, drama hour, and senior painting workshops, to name a few. In addition, the Computer Resource Center provides free computer access and instruction for skills such as word processing, internet use, web design, and desktop publishing.

The center’s sharp design and polished look makes it a jewel among municipal buildings, and its artistic touch reflects the recent influx of galleries and art-spaces in the neighborhood. Lining the walls of the pool are five marine life murals, each hand-crafted with glass mosaic tiles produced by the Italian company Bisazza and donated to the center in conjunction with the Italian Trade Commission. These aquatic creatures are based on photographs by Japanese photographer Tsuneo Nakamura, where pixels translated to tiles in this vibrant reincarnation.