Warren City Schools is another step closer to building a brand-new recreation and wellness center with plans to start pre-site work next week.

The district shared a glimpse of what the new multi-million dollar facility will look like. 

The Board of Education was presented renderings by a local architect company the district is working with called Phillips Sekanick Architects of Warren.

It's set to be a 120,000-square-foot, two-story facility built between the Warren G. Harding High School and the football field.

"It's going to be an amazing facility," Warren City Schools Superintendent & CEO Steve Chiaro said, "The goal was to try and get as many groups of students from our district, not just the high school, but across our district, so many touch points for our students in the facility."

Chiaro said the center will not only be for athletics but for educational and even healthcare purposes as well.

The first floor will house a 200-meter track with a multi-purpose surface inside. On the second floor will be an additional walking track.

The district hopes to hold healthcare practices in the facility, potentially rotating physicians from local doctor's offices.

"They could offer telehealth services with nurse practitioners," he said, "They could coordinate with the family with permission to write prescriptions."

He said they also hope to include sensory development for students with autism. 

Additional plans include space for Esports, the school's robotics program, and potentially a student-run cafe or bistro.

"Where our students would learn and have their SafeServe credentialing in place potentially before graduation which would lead our students better into a workplace of management, restaurant management, and what's necessary to run potentially a small business," he said.

Students will start partially using the facility in the Fall of 2023 before the rest is finished.

The $15-million dollar project is mostly paid for by a federal grant.

Chiaro said inflation is expected to raise the cost but added they've got it covered because they've set aside funds for projects like this over the years.

"This has been planned out for many years here in the Warren City Schools," he said, "and we feel very confident we're going to be able to do this the right way."