Sports and Recreation Center in Warka

The year 1970 can be accepted as the date when the Sports and Recreation Center in Warka (Centrum Sportu i Rekreacji w Warce) began. Warka authorities created a cultural and educational institution called the “Town and Community Culture Center” (Miejsko-Gminny Ośrodek Kultury), and located it in the firehouse.

Despite insufficient space, various clubs operated in its small room at Farna Street. The list includes drama, dance, and music clubs, a brass band, and sports teams. The Town and Community Culture Center’s building was slowly deteriorating when a group of Warka residents decided to change the situation by dedicating their time to building a modern cultural institution for the residents of Warka and its environs.

“Great building, great enterprise,” Warka residents would say. All the large local employers and the entire Warka community helped to build this institution through so-called brick donations in the form of donation certificates. Hard, tedious work toward a mutual dream came to fruition on May 29, 1993, when the Culture, Sports and Recreation Center in Warka (Ośrodek Kultury, Sportu i Wypoczynku) officially opened.

Many individuals dedicated their time and effort to make the Town and Community Culture Center happen. Social committees were established to help the cause. The main one, which quickly became a leader in facilitating the construction, included Slawomir Susik, Zdzislaw Lejman, Tadeusz Kulawik, Andrzej Sobolewski, Marek Gajewski (one of the Center’s directors), Ryszard Piotrowski, and Boguslaw Ciak.

After years of operating as the Culture, Sports, and Recreation Center (Ośrodek Kultury, Sportu i Wypoczynku), in January 2007, the name was changed to the Sports and Recreation Center. Today, it attracts people whose main focus is active recreation, and promoting sports among all age groups. The Center is often the location of sports and recreational events, as well as sports shows.

The Sports and Recreation Center offers a comprehensive training base for sports clubs, associations, and societies. Its facilities include:

• a full-size field house with basketball, volleyball, handball, and tennis courts,
• the “Olimpic” indoor swimming pool with 25-meter swimming lanes, a recreational pool with a slide, shower massages, and a sauna,
• a gymnasium,
• an athletics complex at the Warka town stadium opened on September 10, 2016. It includes:
• 2 football pitches,
• 2 running tracks,
• jumping hills,
• a throwing area.
• Athletes have access to locker rooms and sanitary facilities. Bleachers and parking spaces were added. The Project was part of the “Program to Develop Athletic Infrastructure” of the Polish Ministry of Sport and Tourism.

The Center also offers overnight accommodations within its complex.