April 21, 2011
Gym club appeals for
help
by Vance Gutzman
The Deep River Gymnastics Club (DRGC) made an urgent appeal to Deep
River council last week for some help to prevent the club from folding.
Representative from the DRGC made a presentation at council's committee
of the whole meeting, to stress the fact the club needs to find a new
home, and fast.
The gymnastics club has operated out of Mackenzie High School for more
than 40 years, but that school can no longer house the DRGC's many
pieces of equipment, as it will need to accommodate items from Morison
School when its students transfer over to the new JK-12 facility in the
fall.
That means the DRGC is, essentially, evicted from Mackenzie as of this
coming June, unless it chooses to house its equipment in outdoor
storage space.
That option isn't feasible however, club representative Lianne Wheeler
told council members, firstly because the trailer would have to be
heated and secondly because it would be necessary to move its heavy
equipment (such as the 150-pound trampoline) in and out of Mackenzie's
small gym on a continual basis.
Even if they could, renovations made to the small gym last year saw the
anchor bars for the club's uneven bars covered up by the new floor,
precluding their use by anyone over seven years old.
And during those renovations, Wheeler pointed out, the DRGC had to
operate out of the gym at St. Mary's School, and incurred $4,000 in
moving and storage fees in the process.
While the club appreciated the fact it was able to use the facilities
at St. Mary's, the gym there is not a long-term option for it, as it
would be too hard to continually move the club's equipment up and down
the stairs leading into it.
"We've looked around town for available space, and there's not much,"
Wheeler said, noting that the ceilings are too low in the Zetec
building, Real Hope Christian Assemble has no storage space and the M
& J Lumber building is full of well, lumber.
The gymnastics club has, however, been eyeing up the facilities at
Morison School, and likes what it sees there.
The club's equipment, including the uneven bars, could be left set-up,
should the club be able to rent the gym there.
And it could, seeing as how the DRGC currently has $15,000 in the bank,
and a growing list of paid participants. The demand was so high the
club even had to turn some kids away from its programs this year.
Being able to leave its equipment set-up year-round would also help the
gymnastics club pay rent at Morison, because it wouldn't have to pay
annual equipment set-up fees of $4,000.
Being housed at Morison would also allow the club to increase its
programming, allowing its participants to compete at higher levels, and
also to apply for provincial Trillium grants to update its equipment.
The gymnastics club's equipment is aging, Wheeler pointed out, and is
very expensive to replace. She cited, as an example, the fact that just
one set of mats around one balance beam would cost $20,000.
Yet, while Morison seems like the ideal venue for the DRGC, the fact
remains that the school will close its storied doors on learning in
June and the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) has begun the
first steps of selling the school.
The school board has issued letters to a long list of regulated bodies
which, as per provincial mandate, are at the top of the list in terms
of having first dibs on buying the building.
The town of Deep River is on that list, but Deputy Mayor Mary
MacCafferty, who chaired last week's meeting in the absence of Mayor
David Thompson, said that while she sympathized with the plight of the
gymnastics club, council hasn't discussed its intentions one way or
another regarding Morison.
"You don't have to do a selling job to anyone here," MacCafferty said.
"But acquiring Morison has not come to the table at all. We've never
even spoke about it at council."
Wheeler emphasized that the gymnastics club was not trying to rush the
town into making any sort of decision.
"We understand we have to be patient," she said.
"We have the money to store the equipment, if something were to happen
down the road."
That being said, if the club can't acquire the Morison gym for its
purposes, the DRCG would be left with just one option.
"We would have no other alternative but to fold," Wheeler said.
Deep River's chief administrative officer, meanwhile, suggested at last
week's meeting that the gymnastics club could initiate talks directly
with the school board itself, to see if some common ground could be
reached on temporary housing at Morison.
Wheeler said the club would certainly kick the tires on that idea.
Councillor Ron Desrochers made mention of the fact that the idea of
using Morison had been bandied about by the gymnastics club way back in
the early 1990s when he served as the DRGC's treasurer.
"We are aware of your concerns and we'll try to make you happy,"
Councillors Desrochers said.
|
