Ottawa – Mayor Jim Watson, Kanata North Councillor Marianne Wilkinson and West Carleton-March Councillor Eli El-Chantiry celebrated the start of construction on the new Kanata North Recreation Complex today. Once completed, the facility will fulfill a long-standing need and offer a range of community and recreation facilities.

“The City is committed to creating spaces for residents to meet, play and grow close to home,” said Mayor Watson. “The Kanata North Recreation Complex will be a welcome addition for residents and families in one of our fastest-growing communities.”

The complex will be located at 4101 Innovation Drive and is expected to be open by fall 2013.

“I’m excited to see construction start on a much-needed recreation hub in the west end,” said Councillor Wilkinson. “Kanata residents can be very proud of this wonderful new facility.”

The $43-million project will include a 90,000-sq. ft. building with a 25-metre, eight-lane indoor pool, a leisure/therapeutic pool, two gymnasia, a fitness centre and several multi-purpose rooms. Outside, the complex will have children’s play areas, including water play, a basketball court, a skate park and two sports fields.

The complex is designed to meet LEED GOLD certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED certification is accredited to buildings that have interior and exterior designs that promote green building practices. The new facility will have a number of green features that promote energy efficiency and reduced water use.

The complex will also have four permanent and distinct public art commissions by artists Jean-Yves Vigneau, Maskull Lasserre and the team of Anna Williams and Erin Robertson, selected through a public art competition earlier this year. A fourth artist will be selected in the spring of 2012 to integrate public art into the design of the outdoor skate park.

Councillor Wilkinson worked with a local volunteer steering committee to raise funds for enhancements to the facility such as the creation of a sculpture garden and additional lanes for the indoor pool.

The City will soon finalize a sponsorship agreement with the Richcraft Group of Companies to rename the facility the Richcraft Recreation Complex – Kanata. This agreement will provide $500,000 for the City to establish additional facilities as requested by the community.

For more information about the Kanata North Recreation Complex, please visit ottawa.ca.

Article courtesy of www.jimwatsonottawa.ca

Speech Dictation from Chair Steve Hulaj:

I had the pleasure to serve with many people who made it their goal to work with Marianne and the City of Ottawa to plan for and design a centre that took advantage of a sizable budget, and to work as a team to stretch it as far as we could.

For one year we met to discuss options, changes and additions to the proposed plan.

The one thing we recognized right away was that as our community grows over the course of the next few decades, we needed an expanded pool and more community rooms that would satisfy the desires to have this new complex become a pillar of our community.

The City and the architect made our design sessions an easy task, providing sketches, options and choices to select from, and even making changes when our budget was modified.  However these changes actually expanded many areas of the building – which surprised us.

Staff at the City of Ottawa and the architects did a fantastic job of incorporating a beautiful plan which we will see rise right here in a short period of time.

One of our community tasks was to develop a funding proposal, and our community group sincerely thanks the City of Ottawa for accepting this plan which allows for the 8 lanes, so we believe we succeeded in our goals.

Now this still leaves the hard part ahead of ourselves – which is to complete and deliver upon the balance of our funding plan after this significant contribution from Mr. Singhal.

The location of this new complex will be more than just a place to swim, take a community course on a wide range of options or to work out.  It will also be a community place which will provide opportunities to begin an exploration or hike of the South March Highlands, and provide for the use of the community rooms as a place to learn more about our regions history and even study its biodiversity – because recreation is something for both indoors and outdoors and and we hope that the Centre stands as a reason to ensure we always remember to celebrate both activities.

Thank you.

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