New Lenexa Activity Center expands summer fun for Johnson County kids

If there is a need to prove what the new Lenexa Old Town Activity Center means to the community, the proof, says Logan Wagler, is in the faces of 60 happy summer campers.

Wagler, director of Lenexa’s Park & Recreation, said those kids would not have summer camp without the new facility.

In the past, the popular summer camp was only possible at the Lenexa Rec Center, which could provide summer camp to only 100 kids each week.

“The registration filled up within minutes,” Wagler said.

Now, there are an additional 60 kids who are at summer camp at the new facility.

“That is absolutely what you want to see,” Wagler said. “It’s fun, and you see it in their faces. They will have memories for the rest of their lives. I am beyond proud.”

The recently opened center brings a lot to a familiar spot – and that was the point.

The center is located at 9301 Pflumm Road is in Old Town Lenexa, the original town site for Lenexa. It’s the result of a $12.1 million redo that consolidated the former community center and a senior center into a single building. The result is more than 23,000 square feet of both renovated and newly constructed space on a 2.6-acre campus.

The project was paid for through Lenexa’s Capital Improvement Fund, federal grants, and Lenexa’s 3/8-Cent Sales Tax. Construction began last year.

“Old Town is a special place. It’s where it all started,” Wagler said. “The two facilities had a lot of patrons usage. All it needed was to breathe new life into it.”

Much of what the facility offers came from public input in two studies: The 2015 “A New Look at Old Town Lenexa study” and the 2019 Lenexa Community Center/Senior Center study.

“It’s a front porch for Old Town was the concept,” Wagler said.

“Community centers are very special and are very important for communities. They are not just a building. There is the physical activity, but there is a lot of social aspects.

“The center should offer a wide range of activities. Something for everyone. A young kid can learn a sport. A senior can learn how to tap dance.”

To meet that goal, the facility needed to be flexible which comes in the form of a new east wing that provides expanded space for Lenexa’s 50 Plus programs as well as a complete renovation of the west side. That renovation included the addition of a 1,300-square-foot room programming.

Outside amenities include four pickleball courts, a turf area for open play and fitness, shuffleboard courts and a shaded porch.

The result, Wagler said, is a place that can offer everything from art classes, book club meetings and computer classes.

“You have to stay on top of what the times require,” Wagler said. “You have to be prepared to adapt.”

And it wasn’t just the inside that got a re-do.

“There’s a whole new skin on the building,” Wagler said.

And there is a 900-square-foot mural by artist Evan Brown wrapped around the facility’s southwest corner.

“It just looks super cool,” Wagler said. “The architecture sets the tone to what you expect to see inside. It grabs your attention. You get excited.”