MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Terry Caldwell, the new director of the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, is reflected in a display of the center plans at town hall. Caldwell spent the past 21 year as Montgomery County's aquatic special event and youth programmer.

MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Terry Caldwell (left), the new director of the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, and Wayne Hunter, who has 19 years of combined service with the town and will help run the new aquatics center, stand in the facility.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- A gamut of responsibilities and opportunities may be facing her, but the Christiansburg Aquatic Center's newly hired director says what she's really looking forward to is less complex than one might think.

"I like planning fun activities for children. I like to see them smile," Terry Caldwell said.

Caldwell spent the past 21 years as Montgomery County's aquatic special event and youth programmer, which included overseeing the Frog Pond, the county's only public swimming pool. She started her new job with the town Aug. 18.

Christiansburg's $14.5 million aquatics center, which has been in planning phases since 2004, is on pace to open this spring, missing the original Jan. 1 target. The two-story, 52,000-square-foot facility will house three pools and space for such things as recreational swimming, children's birthday parties and Atlantic Coast Conference and other swimming meets.

Despite plans to share the pool's space with Virginia Tech, Caldwell said providing a swimming facility for the community will always be her priority.

"My dreams are to allow young children in the area to come to use it and learn how to swim," she said.

'A passion for what she does'

Christiansburg advertised the aquatics center director's job nationally in December, and Town Manager Lance Terpenny said all the 37 applicants had experience with leisure or aquatics programs, experience with competitive aquatic facilities and experience or education in business and marketing.

Clay McCoy, the town's director of human resources who served on the hiring committee, said Caldwell stood out from the others because of her community roots.

"Terry has an excellent mixture of experience, education, knowledge of aquatics and, above all, energy, enthusiasm and a passion for what she does and for our local community," McCoy said.

Caldwell is responsible for the overall administration, management and supervision of the aquatic programs department and its $15 million budget through 2009. She will earn $55,398 a year and report to Terpenny.

The position will likely require long hours and numerous meetings throughout her work day. Caldwell said she doesn't mind at all.

"I'm definitely not an 8 to 5 person," she said.

Caldwell, who earned her bachelor's degree in recreation administration from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said Christiansburg's job caught her eye because after 21 years with Montgomery County, she was ready for a change.

"When things start to become routine for me it becomes boring," she said.

She said she enjoyed her many years with Montgomery County, but "this was something that I needed to do for me."

But before applying, the self-described "go-getter" did a little soul-searching. Caldwell said she realized the magnitude of the position and responsibilities that came with it and wanted to make sure she'd be able to balance the needs of the job with the needs of her family.

"I wanted to know that if I was offered the job, I'd be ready to take it," she said.

After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, Caldwell turned in her application.

On Aug. 18, her first day, Caldwell seemed excited, yet not totally sure what was expected of her or what to expect. By the end of the week she was all confidence, giving a hard-hat tour of the construction site and explaining how the center at 595 N. Franklin St. will look and operate when it opens.

She made note of a heated therapy pool and sun deck (which she said the town has gotten numerous requests for), a leisure pool with a two-story slide and other features, a 50-meter Olympic-size competition pool and a diving pool -- complete with platforms for one- and three-meter springboards and for five-, 7¹₂- and 10-foot platform diving.

Hours of operation have not yet been decided, but Caldwell said she would like minimum hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., which may be modified once the facility opens.

"I'm very open to suggestions and what people need," she said.

Caldwell said that safety tops the list of her concerns. She plans to have at least one lifeguard on duty for every 25 swimmers, she said.

Remembering her roots

If taking on a heavy workload is one of Caldwell's character traits, it's probably safe to say that she got it from her upbringing.

She grew up on a dairy farm in Merrill, Wis., the second youngest of two brothers and a sister. From a young age, Caldwell said she noticed her parents' work ethic.

"I think my family was afraid to sit down," she said.

Caldwell said she doesn't remember her father sitting down to watch television. The only time she saw him in a chair was when he was eating -- three meals a day.

Caldwell said she does take time to sit down. In fact, before starting her new job, she took a two-week vacation to spend some quality time with her family. Though she stayed in Southwest Virginia for this vacation, she is no stranger to travel. She has visited France, Switzerland and Austria and has cruised to Mexico and the Bahamas seven times.

"I love the warm blue ocean water and Caribbean music," she said.

Like the range of countries she's visited, Caldwell's interests and hobbies are eclectic.

She gushes over her children -- Wyatt, 5, and Cheyenne, 17 -- and shares her love for cooking, baking and weakness for Mexican and Chinese foods. She boasts upon her farming and sewing skills. She describes herself as a nutrition conscious gym rat who loves nothing more than to take her motorcycle for a spin.

Family, however, remains her priority. When organizing a recent meeting, she ruled out the possibility of having it on a Sunday because it's her church and family time.

Though Caldwell has made the New River Valley her home, she doesn't forget her Wisconsin roots. She is a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan.

"I even had one of those cheese heads. And that's really true, we used to eat a lot of cheese growing up," Caldwell said with a laugh.

Gathering a staff

While construction continues on the aquatics center, Caldwell's first task is to organize a business plan for the facility, including staffing needs, employee salaries, operational costs, chemical needs, fee schedules for facility rental and membership and marketing plans.

The aquatics center budget allots Caldwell about $180,000 to spend on staffing, and she plans to hire three supervisors in the next four to five months to assist her with the aquatics center duties. Those positions will oversee athletic programs, leisure events and special events.

Wayne Hunter, who works at the Christiansburg Water Treatment Plant and has served the town for 11 years, has been hired as the maintenance superintendent for the center's buildings and grounds.

While the maintenance position was filled in-house, the other three jobs will be advertised. Caldwell is searching for people with extensive training who work well in team settings.

"I'm going to gather them together, and we're going to make this thing work," she said.

To aid with the center's costs, the town will be receiving a substantial amount of help from outside sources, including a partnership with Virginia Tech to host tournaments, McCoy said.

In return, Tech will pay the town $250,000 a year -- or $5 million over the next 20 years.

"Virginia Tech is greatly offsetting the cost of construction," McCoy said.

McCoy said the facilities will have Virginia Tech banners and other decorations posted throughout its competitive pools.

With Tech, the ACC, the Virginia Independent High School Conference and the New River Valley Triathlon all expressing interest in holding events at the Aquatic Center, it would seem that the people in the community might get lost in the shuffle.

"That should not even be a thought," Caldwell said.

She said there will be separate entrances for athletes attending swim meets and residents coming for leisure, so that members of the community will still be able to use the facilities. Fee structures will be part of Caldwell's business plan and have not yet been finalized.

Caldwell plans to work with the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce to help further market the aquatics center. She said she hopes to include restaurants, hotels and other necessities into a package deal for those visiting from out of town.

McCoy said that the center will have a substantial amount of parking spaces for those visiting the facility. The town also plans to restructure the roads by the center so that shuttles will have a straight shot to the site when tournaments are in session. Mill Lane is being upgraded to eliminate the "hairpin turn" upon entrance from North Franklin, with a deceleration lane on North Franklin and a turn-lane on the bridge on North Franklin as it heads to downtown.

While the town is receiving money from outside sources, McCoy said that one of the major focuses of Caldwell's business plan will be to make the center as self-sustaining as possible.

Christiansburg Mayor Richard Ballengee on Aug. 19 invited businesses, civic groups and individuals to "have ownership" in the facility, encouraging monetary contributions in which donors can benefit by receiving recognition and other incentives.