By Dan King
Those who want to be connected to the Internet while enjoying recreational activities will soon get their wish.
The Whitehall Rec Center has decided to install Wi-Fi as well as cable television at the facility this year.
Julie Eagan, the Rec Center’s director, said that Time Warner Cable had done a site survey and realized that the facility was getting cable television without actually paying for it. Eagan then decided that it was time that the Rec Center join the 21st Century in terms of technology.
“Kids won’t go very many places without being able to connect to their gadgets anymore,” she said. “I feel like this will give us a broader reach and appeal to these kids who feel like they have to be connected all the time.”
Eagan mentioned the Whitehall Library as the prime example of what Wi-Fi can do to help draw people to a venue.
“You cannot drive by the library any night without seeing kids sitting on the porch, hooking their phones up to the Wi-Fi,” Eagan said.
Eagan said that having Wi-Fi will also benefit the employees of the Rec Center, whom she says currently have to do a good portion of work at home.
“A lot of times the staff is going back and forth between home and the Rec Center to create fliers and things like that,” she added.
In addition to helping the Rec Center draw large swaths of recreation seekers and the benefit for the facility’s staff, Eagan said that having Wi-Fi will also benefit the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) which has recently relocated to the Rec Center after its contract with the Skenesborough Rescue Squad expired last year.
“This will benefit WIC as well, because they do some web-based programs,” Eagan explained.
WIC pays the Town of Whitehall $900 annually to utilize the Rec Center and that money goes directly to the Rec Center’s fund.
The cost
Eagan said Time Warner Cable told her it would waive the $3,000 installation fee, if the Rec Center signed a three-year contract. The three-year contract will cost $780 per year to supply the Rec Center with Wi-Fi and cable television.
Eagan said she was willing to take the $780 out of the $1,000 raise she received this year, but town officials did not want that money to come out of her raise.
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but I don’t like you taking $780 out of the $1,000 that we feel you deserve,” Town Supervisor George Armstrong told Eagan. “I’ll talk to Marge Irwin at WIC and see if they will pitch in a little more, and if not, I think the town should pay for this.”
Armstrong said there is plenty of money in the Rec Center’s budget, including a contingent fund, to pay for the new service.
Safety concerns
Councilman Dave Hollister said he was supportive of the idea, but was concerned that kids would be coming down to the Rec Center after it closed to sit outside and use the Wi-Fi, creating a potential for vandalism.
Eagan reassured him that there were staunch security measures to make sure the kids were not at the facility after hours.
“They have to leave within an hour of us closing,” she said. “Village police come through there and enforce that.”
Town Highway Superintendent Louie Pratt reiterated what Eagan said, in a joking manner, based on Eagan’s position as Town Justice.
“You’ve got Judge Julie (Eagan) down there, she’ll tell the kids to go home,” Pratt jested.