Kawartha Gymnastics ready for move to new home
Club is heading to 12,000-square-foot High Street location
They’re not jumping head over heels yet about a new home but gymnasts at Kawartha Gymnastics will be able to soon.
Having a foam-filled pit where they can practice dismounts is the most exciting aspect for young gymnasts of the club’s Jan. 28 announcement of a new home. The club has signed a 10-year lease to move into a 12,000-square foot space at 873 High St. which formerly housed Skor Wholesale Marketplace. It will be almost double the space the club, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in August, has called home in Morrow Park for 40 years.
Significant renovations are required to the new location with a goal of a soft opening in May.
“It’s really exciting especially because it’s bigger and there’s a foam pit,” said Claire Stuart-Lewis, 13, a member for seven years. “We’ll have a lot more opportunity to improve our skills and the opportunity to have more classes which in the long run creates more money and newer equipment.”
“I’m superexcited,” said Ava Hanley, 14, a member for eight years. “It’s going to bring so many new opportunities to the gym and all the athletes ... It will be like a new beginning for all the athletes and coaches.”
The pit excites the girls the most. The old location doesn’t have one.
“We’ll have a lot more opportunities to try new things,” said Avery Packman, 14, a member for five years. “I can be more open-minded to things we can do because we’ll have the proper equipment for it, specifically using the pits that we’re really excited for. Skill-wise I’m trying to get a back layout full twist … It allows us to be more comfortable in what we’re doing before we have to try it on the floor to get things nailed down.”
“It will allow us to do so many new skills connected to the beam and the bars,” said Hanley.
Any charm the old building holds is outweighed by their excitement about the new facility.
“I’m going to miss it because it’s a place I’m very familiar with,” said Packman, “but I’m very open to change and very excited to go to the new gym especially knowing we’ll have opportunities to do things we weren’t able to before.”
“I’m glad to be getting out of there,” said Stuart-Lewis. “It’s a really small space and it gets really stuffy in the summer. Whenever we’re vaulting little kids run across the vault strip. It will be a lot better in a bigger space.”
“I’ll miss parts of (the old gym) growing up in that gym,” said Hanley, “But I’m super excited to have a new experience with a new gym.”
Hanley drove by the new site to check it out.
“It gets me more excited because it’s a huge building,” she said.
The new location will have a front lobby, change rooms and be a more welcoming space.
“”It will give more of a professional feel to the place,” said Packman.
“Now parents can come and watch and have more room. Before they were crammed into a little area,” said Hanley. “The athletes will have a better change room.”
The girls are eager to get back in the gym. They’ve been locked out since the province’s lockdown be- gan Dec. 26.
“I’m kind of getting a little stir crazy,” said Stuart-Lewis. “The Zoom classes our coach Christine (Ormerod) runs helps but it’s definitely not like training 16 hours a week. I try to stretch every day and do the workouts and go for walks but it’s not really the same.”
The club has started a $50,000 fundraising campaign to cover the costs of building and filling the pit. To learn more or to make a donation visit www.fundly.com/fill-thepit-fundraiser.