The word is already out about the city’s new recreation center at Rock Chalk Park, which quietly opened two weeks ago.

“When we first opened, there were one or two kids out here doing free play on a single court,” said Ernie Shaw, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “Now you have two or three courts full of kids out here for free play after school. The word of mouth is starting to get around that they have a place to play ball.”

Expect the word to soon get louder. City officials will host a grand opening celebration at the recreation center — its official name is Sports Pavilion Lawrence — from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The center is at 100 Rock Chalk Park Lane, which is north of the Sixth and George Williams Way intersection in west Lawrence.

Sunday’s event will include a dedication ceremony at 2 p.m. followed by tours of the facility from parks and recreation staff members. Throughout the day, parks and recreation officials also will be hosting fitness demonstrations. Hy-Vee also will have food samples from the concession stand and grill that it operates inside the recreation center.

The 181,000-square-foot recreation center features eight full-court gyms that can be converted into 16 volleyball courts, an eighth-mile walking/jogging track, an indoor turf area, gymnastics area, fitness rooms and other amenities. Outdoor facilities include eight lighted tennis courts and about five miles of trails that surround the center. The center is part of the larger Rock Chalk Park sports complex that includes facilities for softball, soccer and track and field for Kansas University. The city is paying $22.5 million for the recreation center and shared infrastructure that supports both the center and the adjacent facilities.

Shaw said the center already has hosted multiple youth basketball and volleyball practices and has attracted a steady stream of people to use the track or just look around.

“The sentiment seems to be pretty much the same from everyone,” Shaw said. “They see how big it is and say ‘wow.'”

Shaw said the additional space the center provides has allowed the department to start a new youth volleyball league, create an extra season for the city’s youth recreational basketball league, add indoor soccer classes and several other programs. He said he expects even more classes to be added when the department releases its winter and spring catalog of offerings in November.

“We’re excited about everything that is happening,” Shaw said. “But we’re also ready for the grand opening to be over with and it lets us get to what we really know, which is giving people something to have fun with.”

In addition to the events on Sunday, parks and recreation officials will host a week’s worth of demonstration classes at the center from Monday through Oct. 12 where residents can simply stop by and participate in a class for free. For a list of classes that are a part of the demonstration program, go to: http://bit.ly/YXGV4T.