Breaking ground at the Wellness Center's site on Collins Road are Tim Stamper, Dorris Stoker, Virginia Foxx, Pat Sexton, Jane McCarthy, Tom Gentry and Ken Richardson.

Wellness Center celebrates with groundbreaking, about 200 attend

After six years of fund-raising and preparation, the Alleghany Wellness Center had its ground-breaking ceremony last Sunday at the new facility site on Collins Road. Nearly 200 people attended the groundbreaking.

"This has been a long time coming," commented project coordinator Carolyn Sprinkle. "We still are not 100 percent there, but we're getting there."

Program committee chair Dr. Beth Lyon-Smith said, "There are so many to thank....All of you for your time and dollars; our federal, state, county and town governments for their continued moral and financial support; the many grant foundations; the news media for the continued enthusiastic support of this project; and the board and committee members of AWCI (Alleghany Wellness Center Incorporated) that have and continue to work on fundraising projects and campaigns to raise the $3 million needed to build this facility."

To date, AWCI has raised nearly $2 million, which includes an estimated $200,000 from the N.C. National Guard for site development work. Plans for the facility include a six-lane indoor swimming pool, a therapy pool, fitness and aerobic area, all-weather walking tracks, a demonstration kitchen, a multi-purpose room that will be available as a community center for the county and an educational room that will include a resource library.

"I can think of nothing more important to us than the people of Alleghany County taking charge of providing for their own good health," said honorary chair for the AWCI capital campaign committee John Woodruff. "This means healthier children, more productive employees and a better quality of life for our senior citizens."

Woodruff continued, "Indoor exercise facilities are inadequate in our county. There is a large and a growing population of elderly in the county with age-related diseases and health risks.

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