Residents eagerly await new
community centre in the core
FRANK ETHERINGTON
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RECORD STAFF |
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A
group of people representing six neighbourhood associations
stands outside a new community centre being created at the
former St. Mary's high school in Kitchener yesterday. In the
front row are (from left) Simone Clarke, 5, Noah Davis, 4, and
Kian Klemetsch, 3. In the second row are (from left) Stefanie
Clarke, Karen Taylor, Joanne Davis and David Bradshaw. In the
third row are (from left) Donna Kuehl, Dan Glenn-Graham and
George Klemetsch. |
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KITCHENER (Feb 22, 2005)
Adults, teenagers and children from 10,000 downtown Kitchener
households will be able to use a $3.1-million community centre
scheduled to open in July at a former high school.
And those using the combined community and seniors facility off
Weber between Ontario and Young streets are being asked to suggest
programs for the centre at an open house this week.
Plans for the facility at the former St. Mary's high school will be
available at the meeting, which will take place between 2 and 4 p.m.
Saturday at Victoria School Centre, 25 Joseph St., in Kitchener.
St. Mary's left the downtown building in June 2002 and relocated to
the Country Hills area at Homer Watson Boulevard and Block Line Road.
The 35,000-square-foot community centre is the result of a
three-year campaign by six core neighbourhood groups that formed the
Downtown Neighbourhood Alliance.
The groups represent residents in the Central Frederick, Civic
Centre, Victoria Park, Cedar Hill, Mount Hope and Auditorium
communities, said Joanne Davis, alliance project leader.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for people in the core (and) we
want to see people blue sky a little about what kind of programs they
would like to see at their new centre," said Davis, vice-president of
the Central Frederick Neighbourhood group.
The building, which has a full gymnasium, will share space with a
relocated Victoria School Centre for seniors.
The seniors' centre is used by about 2,350 adults over the age of
50.
Once the seniors centre closes at the Victoria School building, the
space will be used to train immigrant pharmacists as part of a
University of Waterloo plan to locate pharmacy, family medicine and
optometry schools on the former Epton site at King and Victoria
streets, said Frank Pizzuto, Kitchener's community services manager.
The St. Mary's community centre will also have space reserved for a
youth drop-in facility. The drop-in idea was developed after surveys
showed many people were nervous about going downtown because there
were so many young people hanging out in the core.
Plans have already been made to use some of the former classrooms
for computer, dance, music and arts activities.
Kitchener is sharing renovation costs at the former school with the
Waterloo Catholic District School Board, which will use 65 per cent of
available space in the old school as its new education headquarters.
When the board moves its offices from Moore Street this summer, an
additional 150 employees will work in the core.
"It's tremendously exciting for residents of the downtown to
finally have their own recreational centre that has been desperately
needed for a number of years," Davis said.
fetherington@therecord.com
