‘The Hub’ to host grand opening Saturday in Rio Rancho

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Last year, The Hub at Enchanted Hills was mostly wooden beams and concrete floors, but after several months of hard work, it is finally ready for a grand opening.

While the ribbon-cutting ceremony will not happen until 11:30 a.m. Saturday, the new library and rec center have been open to the public since mid-May.

“We did the soft opening because we had the place 90% done,” said Jason Shoup, the director of Library and Information Services for the City of Rio Rancho. “We’ve been averaging about 120 people a day showing up here. We’ve made almost 300 new library cards for folks since we’ve been open for this past month.”

The pickleball courts were packed ahead of the official opening as well.

“We love an indoor court,” said Abbie Nelson, a woman playing on the court for the first time with her friends. “It’s nice to play in an air-conditioned space because it’s kind of toasty outside.”

Another woman brought her two granddaughters to play a few rounds.

“We came over here one Saturday when they opened and checked out books, and they enjoyed the library, and I was very interested in the pickleball courts,” Wanda Robinson said. “So, we signed up for the lessons that day.”

“Once you get a really good trainer, the trainer will teach you everything you know and you’ll get used to it,” Wanda’s granddaughter, Monica Rowley, said.

The Hub’s grand opening is just one of the new developments in the fast-growing Enchanted Hills neighborhood, with new businesses popping up in the plaza – including a Five Below – and construction on the repurposed shipping container project known as “The Block” underway.

“We’ve had great success out here, and we’re going to see a lot more success in the future,” Rio Rancho City Councilor Bob Tyler said.

“It’s a fantastic location,” Shoup added. “We’re so close to 550, so close to the expressway. People can stop by here on their way home. They’re coming in to do shopping at the grocery stores – it puts us right in the middle of things and hopefully makes us very accessible for folks.”

Shoup said more progress is on the way for The Hub too.

“The big one that we’re that we’re excited to see finally come in is the walls for the pickleball courts in the rec center,” he said. “So people can, you know, bounce the pickleball off and really play and make some noise without disrupting the library too much.”

“There’s going to be future growth and hopefully, people start utilizing the meeting space and whatnot,” Tyler added. “So, it’s going to be busy.”

City reps said all the amenities at The Hub are free, and they cannot wait for more of the public to discover what the community center has to offer.

Saturday’s grand opening runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. – organizers said there will be food, goodie bags and raffles for those who attend.