Spencer Berret, center, sprays Derek Graham with a wave of water as they test out the FlowRider wave machine at the Sunriver Fitness and Aquatics , formerly known as Mavericks at Sunriver. The facility had a soft opening in April under new ownership. (Andy Tullis/Bulletin photo)

SUNRIVER — The new owners of the former Mavericks at Sunriver reopened the indoor aquatics facility and fitness center with little fanfare April 24.

Benjamin Clapa, along with Persida and Christian Myers, have short- and long-term goals for the 32,000-square-foot facility on Cottonwood Road. They started with a new name, Sunriver Fitness and Aquatics, and a schedule of fitness classes in and out of the indoor pool.

“We’ve gotten a lot of the old members and word is spreading quickly,” Persida Myers said Thursday.

The Myerses and Clapa bought the facility from Bank of the Cascades in August for $1.5 million, according to Deschutes County property records. The bank foreclosed on the property in September 2014, starting an eight-month-long action in Deschutes County Circuit Court to recover $5.6 million in loans to the previous owners, the Sunriver Vacations Recreation Association LLC. The four association members signed over the property to the bank in April 2015, when it was listed for sale at $1.975 million. The facility came with a FlowRider 1800 perpetual-wave machine valued at more than $500,000.

The new owners, who between them own a pair of assisted living facilities in Portland, said they would like to build an assisted living facility in Sunriver on a lot adjacent to the aquatic center.

First they must gather enough signatures to amend the Sunriver Homeowner Association covenants, codes and restrictions to allow such a facility on the property. The owners need signatures of 75 percent of the approximately 2,000 homeowners in the River Village section of Sunriver, said Keith Kasaris, homeowner association assistant general manager.

The association, although it owns the Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic & Recreation Center, or SHARC, a potentially competing facility, takes a neutral stand on the petition drive, Kasaris said. The homeowners association tallies the number of signatures and confirms each is a property owner.

“We’re facilitating the votes that come in,” he said. “We’re not taking any action one way or the other.”

Clapa is owner of Northwest Home Health, an eight-bedroom senior-care facility. The Myerses are owners of Ironwood Holistic Care Home, a live-in facility for clients with neurological diseases or disorders. Both businesses are located in Portland.

An assisted living facility for seniors in Sunriver makes sense, they said, for a number of reasons. The next closest facilities are in Bend or La Pine. The population of retirees already living in Sunriver would have an option to continue living there if they reached a point when they needed assistance, Clapa said. The fitness center would provide a place for therapy and exercise, along with staying in touch with the larger community, they said.

Clapa and the Myerses said they would consider building an outdoor component of the aquatic facility with a pool and water slides. Their plans are still in the formative stage, they said.

The first goal is to ramp up the existing facility, sign up members and expand operations.

Persida Myers said the new owners want to attract members from around south Deschutes County, not just Sunriver.

Christian Myers said another goal is to establish food service, starting with simple items like pizza and hot dogs and working up to something more nutritious. He also described an indoor play area for children.

“We would like to add more features so we have more amenities year-round,” Clapa said. “We’re trying to do things that will complement the existing facilities here.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com