One warm June evening, I found myself drawn to the Federal Way Community Center for the meeting of the King County Charter Review Commission (I know — not exactly living in the fast lane, but at least I wasn’t home watching city council meetings…that’s Tuesday nights).

Political columnist Bob Roegner has already done a fine job of explaining in these pages what the commission is and what it has done. Instead, I’m interested in what I saw in and around the Community Center.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about Federal Way’s “third places.” What I saw on this June evening suggests that the Community Center may just be on its way to becoming such a place.

When I arrived for the meeting, I was surprised to find the parking lot nearly full. Commission host and King County Council member Pete von Reichbauer always knows how to draw a crowd, but the parking lot suggested there were many more than just the usual group of political junkies and good government folks inside.

Indeed, when I entered the center, I encountered a maelstrom of activity: Moms and dads bringing their kids in to swim, the sound of billiard balls colliding and ping-pong balls flying. There were people coming and going from the workout gym and basketball courts, and others stopping to talk with friends they’d just run into. The staff was busily checking in center users and answering phones. The swimming pools were packed with kids and families.

Then, there was the meeting room itself. As commission members arrived, they were greeted by local elected officials like Mayor Jack Dovey and his colleague Jeanne Burbidge, Federal Way School District Superintendent Tom Murphy (who seems to be everywhere), Federal Way Chamber CEO Tom Pierson, and community-minded F-Dubbers like Bob Kellogg, Bette Simpson and Bob Hitchcock.

On this night, there was a buzz in the air. Between the political pizzazz of the commission meeting and the facility’s regular recreational activities, it suggested a community with energy and vitality.

I was struck by a sense of irony. I had just recently read a couple of articles (including one in this very publication) reporting on the Community Center failing to draw expected numbers of users. The resulting deficit is more than twice what city staff had budgeted.

The picture painted in these articles was at odds with the picture before my own eyes.

The Community Center looks to be on a successful trajectory. While the city’s user targets haven’t yet been achieved, critical mass has. Perhaps, the Community Center is about more than just numbers of users and revenue stream.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about “third places.” It strikes me that the Community Center is (or is on its way to being) a quintessential third place.

The facility provides a range of recreational activities for Federal Way-ers of every age and inclination. The parks department also provides a variety of classes and programs hosted there as well. It’s a place for Federal Way-ers to be and to do.

And when a political body like the King County Charter Review Commission or the Puget Sound Ecosystem Coordination Board comes to town, the center offers appropriate facilities to host their visit — and put a good face on Federal Way.

In short, it’s the kind of place where you might go to hang out. And that’s the definition of a third place. When Federal Way-ers come to the Community Center for these activities, they are often likely to encounter friends or acquaintances, or meet new folks for the first time.

Any news of doom and gloom at the Community Center has to be placed in perspective. The sky is not falling. User targets should be taken seriously and the center’s management should absolutely work to find ways to attract more business.

But it occurred to me on my June visit that the Community Center is much more than a business. As the name implies, it’s about community. Building that takes patience and persistence.

Federal Way is on the right track with the Community Center.

Chris Carrel is a Federal Way resident and executive director of the Friends of the Hylebos. Contact: chinook@hylebos.org.