Asheville budget proposal would cut rec center hours outside summer

Families, seniors and after-school users at every Asheville community center would lose some off-season access if City Council approves the city’s 2026-27 budget on June 9. Summer hours would stay unchanged, but the proposal would cut about 13% from hours outside the summer season, an average reduction of 7.75 hours a week and weekday losses of roughly 6 to 10 hours per center, according to city officials.

The change would come through a $384,000 reduction in funding for temporary and seasonal positions tied to recreation-center operations. City spokesperson Kim Miller said all community centers would be affected. That means fewer hours for open gym time, sports, classes, parties and rentals, along with less room for the wellness, education and culture programming that Asheville Parks & Recreation says it offers for residents of all ages.

For working parents, the shift could mean fewer low-cost after-school options once school lets out and fewer evening hours in the months when families rely most on indoor public space. For older adults, the cuts would trim access to one of the city’s most consistent neighborhood-based services. The proposal does not close any centers, but it does narrow the window when those buildings are actually usable.

The rec-center reduction is one piece of a broader budget fight. Over the past four months, Asheville officials have been trying to close an initially estimated $30 million gap between revenue and expenses in the next budget. City staff previously identified a $6.9 million package of possible cuts that also touched housing, public art, arts grants, security presence at some centers, staff vacancies, training, supplies and software budgets.

At a March 24 budget work session, Council member Sage Turner called the proposed cuts a “slaughtering of community services,” a sign of how politically charged the discussion has become. The debate has also been shaped by the city’s recovery from Tropical Storm Helene, when Asheville community centers reopened to normal operating hours on Nov. 6, 2024, after storm damage and emergency-response demands forced many programs to pause.

Asheville Parks & Recreation says its system includes parks, playgrounds, open spaces, swimming pools, sports fields and courts, Riverside Cemetery and community centers. The budget proposal would not shrink that footprint on paper, but it would make the city’s neighborhood service network harder to use outside the summer months.