REC CENTRE TO FILL BIG NEED IN NORTHWEST
Calgary’s deep northwest has plenty of amenities, but a Cityowned recreation centre hasn’t been one of them. That will soon change with the construction of a 284,000-square-foot, $191-million facility at Rocky Ridge Road and Country Hills Boulevard.
When complete, YMCA Calgary will operate the recreation component and there’ll also be a 3,000square-foot Calgary Public Library branch, gallery and art-making space, a 300-seat theatre, and even a large wetlands entry feature with nature trails.
YMCA chief operating officer Kelly Smith says he expects the new facility will replicate the success of the recently opened Remington YMCA in Quarry Park.
“It’ll be quite a bit larger than Remington, so we’ll have a lot more room, a lot more program space,” says Smith. For example, Rocky Ridge will feature two ice sheets — one for hockey and one for recreational skating. Its leisure pool will include a wave system, water slide, hot tub and steam room, Smith adds.
Also included will be an eightlane, 25-metre pool built to competition standards, running track, and a skateboard park.
Calgary Recreation director Kyle Ripley says the city’s goal is to establish the Rocky Ridge facility as a community cultural hub similar to the Wildflower and Mount Pleasant art centres.
“Rocky Ridge will pick up that need (and provide) a blend of rec- reation, leisure, sport and cultural opportunities,” he says.
Residents in northwest Calgary need a facility like this, says Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca.
“It will be a great asset to the community,” he says, noting how children cross the city to access ice for playing hockey. “And the wave pools — it’ll be like kids in a candy store.”
Magliocca says it’s important for Calgarians to understand that, while the Y will operate the building, it is still very much a City of Calgary recreation centre that combines sports and recreation as well as cultural amenities such as the library branch and the theatre.
Ward 1 Coun. Ward Sutherland recently toured the construction site.
“Looking at it from the outside doesn’t do it justice,” he says, noting how new software called Building Information Modeling (BIM) is helping make sure all the pieces fall into place. “Some of the (roof ) beams are 125 feet long — though this system, they all fit like a glove.”
The centre’s uniquely curved roof will feature glulam, a strong, heavy-duty engineered wood that will cover some 190,000 square feet of roof area — the largest roof of its kind in North America, says Stephen Tolnai, vice-president, sales and marketing with Structurlam Products LP, the contractor handling its installation.
“Glulam allows flexibility of design and the strength to allow the architect (GEC Architecture) to create its exterior, free-flowing curvature,” Tolnai says.