Charles Houston Recreation Center

Had a great work out at the local recreational center. This rec center is free for City employees. The rev center has boxing & fitness classes, arts & crafts for children, swimming, & free weights. There’s not a long line for machines. Had a great time with co-​workers. I recommend!

I’m shocked at the many negative (and one incredibly offensive) reviews that CH has been given. I’ve been taking my daughter here for almost two years now and we love it. We use the soft play room, the toddler gym, and the pool regularly (in the summer, almost daily) and we love the clean, modern, and easily accessible facilities. The pool is rarely packed and my kid loves the fountains and the slope that allows her to play in the water without me worrying she’ll go under. The toddler gym is heaven sent for anyone home with kids all day — they have two awesome bouncy houses, tons of toys, soft building blocks, and ride on cars. We love CH :)

I should say upfront that this review is written in regards to the pool and lifeguards.
re: pool —
First and foremost, you now have to pay $ 5/​person to swim, they want more from you but provide less. You can’t eat a blueberry on the pool deck, lifeguards don’t guard, and if you want to use the playground, you’re walking ¼ mile — they can’t keep the gates unlocked (even during working hours) because the gov’t handout hoarders will destroy it.
If you hope for a fun filled and worry free day at the pool with your kiddies — go somewhere else. On any given weekend day, 50% or so of the children are in the pool without their parents caring even a little about their behavior. It’s almost guaranteed that some little brat is going to kick you or your child in the face and not a single living soul will care.
Some of the culprit kids are local neighborhood kids from the surrounding subsidized housing project — this remark isn’t meant to be negative, it’s just a fact. These kids have no manners, they hate you, and chances are they’re cursing, fighting, wrestling, etc while you and your 3 year old are trying to have fun. The lifeguards don’t care, they avoid conflict altogether and let these future Crips/​Bloods run wild. DO NOT approach their guardian, you could literally get shot.
Go to any number of the other city pools (del ray, etc.) where you pay less (or nothing at all) and you wont get killed.
CHRC gets 2 stars because it’s new and easy for kids to walk in to. That’s it.

I asked about early hours and got the following:
The Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities discontinued the early morning hours at Charles Houston effective July 1, 2013. RPCA proposed a number of service reductions as part of its FY-​14 (July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014) budget submission to City Council to meet the FY-​14 budget expenditure reduction target set for the Department.
Included in the Department’s budget reduction submission was the elimination of the early morning operating hours (6 am to 9 am) at the Charles Houston Recreation Center. The early morning operating hours reduction represented an expenditure reduction of $ 26,250. The rationale for selecting the early morning hours was the low average daily attendance during the 6 am to 9 am time period. The average daily attendance for the center was eight customers per day for this time period. We also reduced operating hours at other centers in our FY-​14 budget reductions due to low attendance. Similarly, in October 2011, we eliminated late evening operating hours (Monday to Thursday, 9 pm to 11 pm) at Charles Houston due to low attendance. Staff began communicating the change in the operating hours to customers shortly after May 6 when City Council approved the City’s FY-​14 budget. There are no plans to reinstate these hours.

FYI. I just called today and was told by CHRC that no one has complained about the change in hours. Ever. If you want to complain, please send a message to the following email addresses:
and
. You should let them know that you’d like your gym hours reinstated.

So they suddenly decided to cut their morning hours, with only 5 days notice. There have been a lot of new signups at the Charles Houston Recreation Center lately, and this change is rather deceitful with such short notice — money down the drain when they suddenly change the hours that many people workout at — especially since you HAD to sign up for a membership in order to workout early in the morning. The extremely short notice is not cool, City of Alexandria. Not cool.
Update to the update:
FYI city management claims «not enough users» during the mornings, but this is total BS. I’d typically come in at 7:30am, and there would be 15 – 25 people already on the sign-​in sheet, and I’d see 6 – 11 different people working out, regularly, during the times I was actually at the facility in the early mornings. Alexandria Rec claims there were fewer than 10 during the entire early morning hours. This is a blatant lie, or gross miscalculation. Furthermore they claim that none or almost no one has complained, and I know for a fact that this is incorrect.
I live, work, and own a residence in Alexandria City, and the city provides many wonderful resources for residents and visitors — including the CHRC. But I’m extremely disappointed in how they cut morning hours with a posted notice just days before, their gross misrepresentation of numbers of active morning participants, and their denial/​lies about complaints.