GORE BAY—If everything goes well, the Gore Bay Fitness/Gym committee is hopeful of having a location in place for this new centre by this October.
“Everyone understands that people are becoming more involved in personal fitness,” said Councillor Jack Clark, (chair of the committee) at a Gore Bay council meeting last week. “Gore Bay is behind the times in providing fitness facilities, and having a fitness centre/gym will help in bringing new people to town to live and work here.”
“What we are proposing is to put together a three year plan to get the centre up and running,” Mr. Clark told council. He explained there is a committee of eight people working on a business plan for the concept, and it is hoped that the committee would operate as a joint committee for Gore Bay and Gordon/Barrie Island council. “We would like to see this fitness centre run similar to the joint community fire hall group, with council having a say on how it is operated.”
The committee is looking to open such a facility at the seniors centre in the Gore Bay Medical Centre (with the seniors centre slated to move to space in Charles C. McLean Public School this September).
However, Mr. Clark noted, “there are a number of issues with the space in the (current seniors centre), it is a little small and the biggest restriction is the height of the ceiling, for anyone for instance wanting to do chin-ups.
“The big advantage (with the medical centre space) is that it is available and it is clean,” said Mr. Clark. The committee wants to see the gym open on a 24/7 basis, using a swipe access card to get into and out of the building, and to keep records of how many people are using the facility. “We are still looking at all of those details,” he told council. A security system will also be set up and established rules will have to be signed by those using the fitness centre, he told council.
“We have started to create a list of equipment that we would need, and will price everything and have items prioritized,” he said.
As for membership fees the fitness centre in Little Current costs $30 per month, and for Burpee-Mills the rate is $15 per months for residents and $20 per month for non-residents. The committee would like to have the local membership fees at or close to those rates. “But we still have to figure all this out in detail.”
“And we still have to sort out how we are going to deal with seniors’ memberships,” said Mr. Clark. He pointed out a commitment of $10,000 towards fitness equipment has been made by a generous donator.
Mr. Clark pointed out at this time the committee is not looking for anything from local councils. As for when the committee would like to see the fitness centre/gym begin operating, “we would like to see it open October 1 of this year,” stated Mr. Clark. However, he added that more planning is being done and more details will be provided to council at its August meeting.
“It certainly sounds as if the committee is on the right track and more information is to be brought forward,” added Mayor Lane.
