New ministry proposes to build large indoor rec center

Published 8:13 am Wednesday, September 21, 2022

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Parents wishing to find a new place for their children to be safe while playing sports or doing homework after school may soon have a new destination in Stanly County.

Narissa Daniel, a student-athlete at North Stanly from 1994 to 1997, has started a campaign to find funding for an indoor athletic facility on U.S. Highway 52 across from Kubota Tractor Supply.

Daniel’s new facility, the ReCreate Center, will be part of a company she started to host an after-school program for children called the Education Corner. She said the center’s name comes from “recreating yourself. We’re trying to help kids be the best version of themselves.”

“I want to be able to bring kids in, help them with their homework, then let them play ball for a while for free. Give them a snack and a safe place to go after school, at least until their parents get off work, and teach (kids) accountability and responsibility,” Daniel said.

She said manners, accountability and responsibility are something kids need to have first “so that you are able to keep yourself out of trouble. Keep away from the stuff that you shouldn’t be around.”

Her group’s mission, she added, “will change the atmosphere of Stanly County, reshape our community, because if I learn to be accountable and responsible for myself, the way I handle situations will be different.”

The facility will have four high-school size basketball courts, batting cages, an indoor driving range and indoor cornhole.

Daniel said she has had the idea for the facility for about a year or more, but the reality of it has come more in 2022. She has had an architect draw up plans, which she took to the county’s planning board. After approval from the board, she said, she has continued to find financing for the $14.5 million project.

Daniel said local banks said she would have to come up with 25 to 30 percent of the money for a facility, which could be approximately in the $5 million range.

Plans for the new facility are to host AAU basketball tournaments, which Daniel said will help bring more folks into Stanly to spend money at hotels and restaurants.

“My focus is to truly change the community,” Daniel said. “I played basketball for North Stanly. I am a baller at heart.”

She said she loved basketball, adding to teach some fundamentals of the game is important.

About Charles Curcio

Charles Curcio has served as the sports editor of the Stanly News & Press for more than 16 years and has written numerous news and feature storeis as well. He was awarded the NCHSAA Tim Stevens Media Representative of the Year and named CNHI Sports Editor of the Year in 2014. He has also won an award from Boone Newspapers, and has won four North Carolina Press Association awards.

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