Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull expressed his excitement about the opening of The Hub, a brand-new community center.

“Like town halls, weddings, graduations – whatever," Hull said in a recent KOB 4 report. “I mean, the sky’s the limit on how we can potentially use this space."

The Hub is located in the fast-growing Enchanted Hills area. Its opening day was Wednesday, May 17, and the center houses multiple pickleball courts, a public library and meeting rooms. Even though the main goal for the courts is pickleball, the space can quickly be transformed.

“The nets they just roll out of the way,” Hull said. “The walls will come down.”

The Hub is bringing area residents access to more recreational options, from pickleball to books. But the library has more than just books to check out; it is a library of things as well.

“So it’ll be really convenient for the folks that live on this side of town," Jason Shoup, Rio Rancho director of Library and Information Services, said in the report. “They can swing in here pick up their books and whatever else – their movies, their music, their audiobooks. We have pickleball rackets you can check out. We have a metal detector, we have telescopes, we’re about to add board games and a bunch of other stuff."

More than half of the population of Rio Rancho that lives on the north side of town will be served by the library branch. The location is right off 528, making it convenient, but it is not just residents the City hopes The Hub will attract.

“Well, obviously having facilities like this really attracts a lot of development," the mayor said. “It attracts new stores. It attracts a lot of different things. Enchanted Hills is the emerging hub in this area."

The Hub's official grand opening is scheduled for June 17.