Urbandale residents have new access to indoor recreation amenities more than three years after local voters turned down a plan for a recreation complex with some of the same features but on a larger scale.
The city has opened public access to Recreation Station at 4020 121st St. Jan Herke, the city’s Parks and Recreation director, said the building has its name from Urbandale Fire Station No. 42 being located across the street.
“This is an amazing new opportunity for us,” Herke said. The city has not had an indoor gym in the 28 years she’s been in Urbandale, despite gym space being a highly sought commodity that’s been tough to come by.
“We’re excited that this facility is in the geographic center of Urbandale,” Herke said.
Recreation Station — mostly open to public rental access for now — is not in a newly constructed building. It’s the former home of a privately-owned gym called the Hawk Nest. The city bought the building in February for $3.2 million, according to Polk County property records.
With two basketball courts and an area for future classes and programs, Recreation Station is a far cry from the proposed $43 million Urbandale Community Recreation Complex, or U-Plex, 83% of Urbandale voters turned down in March 2023.
The U-Plex, which would have been built at the southeast corner of Meredith Drive and 152nd Street in Walnut Creek Regional Park, would have included gym space for three basketball courts or nine pickleball courts, a walking track, an indoor playground and a community rental space. Outside features would have included lighted pickleball courts, a splash pad, a playground and shaded gathering spaces.
Urbandale spokesperson Derek Zarn told the Des Moines Register in a statement Recreation Station is not a new version of the U-Plex. “They’re very different projects. But both reflect the same thing we’ve heard and seen for years: Urbandale needs more recreation space. U-Plex was one concept for addressing that need. Recreation Station is a separate opportunity the City was able to move on because it gives us real, usable space now.”
Does Urbandale plan to expand Recreation Station?
Herke said there are no plans to expand the building at this time, but more work is slated ahead before an official opening in October.
Recreation Station will get a new gym floor in August and September, she said. Other additions to be completed by October will include a configuration for volleyball and having onsite Parks and Recreation offices.
Herke said the city has been able to hit the ground running in the building. The city had already been renting space there for senior citizen classes.
She said the official opening in October will see an expansion of senior, youth and wellness classes.
Mollie Wilhite, Urbandale’s recreation superintendent, said the city is also envisioning open gym time and more drop-in pickleball play in the future.
Free drop-in pickleball time is already available at the Recreation Station from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays through July 21, according to the city’s website.
More information about court rental rates and availability is available at urbandale.org/1412/Recreation-Station.
What happened to the Hawk Nest?
Herke said the city had been in discussions with the building’s owner since last fall.
The Hawk Nest posted on X in February when the sale to the city closed the goal for the facility was always to “build something meaningful and leave it better than we found it. I think and hope we did that. And thank you all for coming along this journey with us.”
“We’re excited that the City of Urbandale will carry this forward and keep the gym active for years to come,” according to another post.
The building was built in 2017 and had been owned by Thomas Capital Advisors LLC, which bought it from Crossroads Business Park LC in January 2017 for $286,780, according to Polk County property records.
The building and its almost 4 acres of land had been valued in 2025 at more than $4.4 million.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at PSitter@usatodayco.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Urbandale opens public indoor gym years after voters denied U-Plex
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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