FAIRHOPE, Ala. — During a tour Monday of the Fairhope Recreation Center under construction on Greeno Road, the parks and recreation department director Eddie Boyette gestured from the second-floor walking track.

“It’s set up so that when they’re walking, they’ll have plenty to look at,” he said, pointing down to what will be the weight room, a gymnasium, and outside, through windows around the perimeter of the track.

“We have a lot of glass on this floor,” said Don Gordon, the project’s general contractor. “There’ll be a lot of natural light.”

The new building is the centerpiece of a number of recent construction projects of the parks and recreation department, including several tennis courts and buildings, softball fields and a skateboard park.

“Around the first of December is what we’re shooting for,” said Gordon, referring to the possible completion date of the 19,355-square-foot building.

The building will also include a game room, sauna, racquetball court, basketball court, stationary bicycle “spinning” room, conference room, offices and lobby. The game room might include Ping-Pong, Foosball and air hockey tables, a big screen television set, and computers, Boyette said.

“We’d like to have something for everyone,” he said. “We will also encourage the community to use the new conference room.”

The project was funded by a loan with $3.7 million earmarked for the new building, Mayor Tim Kant said during the Monday tour.

The building is built to withstand winds of 140 mph, Gordon said, and will be outfitted with a sprinkler system in case of fire.

Boyette said a position for recreation center director has been advertised to run the new facility and will pay approximately $36,000 per year. He will make a recommendation to the mayor, who will make the hiring decision of the new employee, Kant said.

Membership fees for the public will be decided by the recreation department board, and the facility is expected to have hours similar to the department’s swimming pool, from about 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Boyette said the building should open early next year but could open sooner depending on when construction is completed and when they hire the new facility director.

“I don't know of any town this size that will have anything better than this one,” he said.