THE ORCHARDS AT ELLERSLIE GROWING INTO COMMUNITY
Club house gives budding development an even stronger heartbeat
The Orchards at Ellerslie, a southeast Edmonton community on the rise, is branching out, but not exactly in the manner you might expect.
Its tree-lined streets, with enticing names like Cherry Way and Crabapple Landing, are home to a growing number of residents and they will be joined by numerous others as The Orchards continues to mature — the development from Brookfield Residential is not even 20 per cent complete. However, it’s the seemingly innocuously named — but accurate — Orchards club house that recently opened that could give this budding suburb an even stronger heartbeat and, in turn, spur future growth.
On the surface the club house is a 12,000-square-foot facility that sits on approximately eight-and-ahalf prime acres in The Orchards’ southern side. Inside the club house there are flex rooms, banquet space and a place to change your skates. Outside, there’s an NHL-sized hockey rink, tennis courts, concrete ping-pong tables, fire pits, asphalt trails, a toboggan hill, a playground and a spray park that converts to a pleasure rink in the winter.
“This facility will be a gathering place to make new connections, to participate in programming, and to be entertained,” said Brookfield’s Richard Westren, senior vice-president of Edmonton communities.
“This will help to give The Orchards its own personality and identity.”
Finishing touches to the club house were put in place just prior to last weekend’s grand opening, and the club house definitely has that excitement associated with something brand new.
The fun doesn’t stop there though, as the playground facilities are not only eye-catching and state-of-the-art, they’re tempting enough to make adults go out and join the kids for some outdoor amusement. And there’s even more, officials say.
“We’ve started up our fall programs, which include everything from high-intensity intervals training, also known as HITT, to Yin Yoga and Zumba fitness,” said Kyle Orlecki, general manager of the Orchards Residents Association, a non-for-profit organization responsible for maintenance of the community features. “We will also be offering different events throughout the year, such as our Halloween carnival to skating with Santa, as well as resident barbecues in the spring.”
Hockey rink programming, meanwhile, has not been finalized, but the residents association is looking at setting up an intra-community hockey league that would see other Brookfield neighbourhoods such as Chappelle Gardens and Lake Summerside involved.
While Orchards’ residents are required to pay a mandatory annual fee to the residents association, Orlecki said that most club house activities and facilities are open to non-residents, and there are non-resident rates for those looking to book club house banquet and meeting rooms. As an added bonus, each household is permitted to bring up to six guests.
“The reaction (to the club house) has been very positive,” said Orlecki, pointing out that the facility has been in operation since a soft opening in August.
“We’re really pleased, as the front of the building is a little deceiving in terms of how large the facility is.”