MEDFORD, Ore, — The largest building the city of Medford has ever taken on is taking shape. The city’s new aquatic and event center Rogue X should open to the public later this year. A construction team of 75 people are out there working daily on the $76 million project.
Despite a few days of bad weather last week, the construction team says the timeline for the project is still very much on track.
If you’ve driven on Rossanley Drive in west Medford lately, you’ve probably noticed the 140,000-square-foot recreation facility coming to life. The $76 million Rogue Credit Union Community Complex or Rogue X as the city calls it will be at Howard Memorial Sports Park.
“Very few communities have the wherewithal to undertake a project like this, this is the largest building ever undertaken by the city of Medford,” said Rich Rosenthal, Medford Parks & Recreation director.
Plans for Rogue X include an event center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a splash pad, sport courts, and more. Rosenthal says the multipurpose facility will serve Medford for generations to come.
“The events center will be a multipurpose place to host tournaments, leagues, trade shows, meetings a variety of activities, and on the other side the aquatics side which will have a recreational pool and a competition pool,” said Rosenthal.
Project Manager Matt Winkler with Pence Construction says last week his team dealt with 2 days of weather delays but says everything is still on track with its timeline. So far, the structure is up for the 76,000-square-foot events center that’ll house 8 basketball courts. Winkler says the floor will get put in in a few months.
“All the structure is up we’re putting up the siding on the outside so we have about 3 more weeks on that then we’ll have an enclosed space, we’re already putting up basketball hoops,” said Winkler.
As for the aquatic center, the 40-foot-tall concrete walls of the building will be done in a few weeks Next steps include roofing work followed by digging in the recreation and competition pools. Rosenthal says it will be the largest competition pool between Eugene and Redding.
“The construction phase is at about 30% completion over the course of 2023 people will see that number increase to the extent that we anticipate a grand opening later this year,” said Rosenthal.
The complex is set to open late in the fall.
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