Pointe-claire to open new Olive-urquhart Sports Centre
Refurbished former West Island YMCA named after city's first female mayor
Pointe-claire will officially unveil its new Olive-urquhart Sports Centre on Thursday.
The refurbished sports centre on Brunswick Ave., formerly known as the West Island YMCA, is being named after the city's first and only female mayor.
Olive Louise Urquhart (19071987) served as mayor from 195456 and again from 1958 to 1961.
She was only the second female mayor to be elected in Quebec, after Elsie Gibbon in Portage-dufort in 1953.
This official naming of the new municipal sports centre was adopted by city council March 8 on International Women's Day.
Pointe-claire Mayor Tim Thomas said it was important for the city to pay homage to Urquhart by renaming the YMCA building, which the city purchased for $9 million last year.
“Olive Urquhart was a female pioneer and one of the best mayors in the city's history,” he said.
Urquhart is credited with forging the development of the city's industrial park sector in the northern part of the city, where the sports facility is located, he added,
Councillor Erin Tedford has much admiration for the role Urquhart played in shaping the city.
“Working as a newly-elected city councillor has only made me conscious of how impressive Ms. Olive
Urquhart's achievements were and what a truly exceptional, visionary leader she was,” Tedford said.
Working as a newly-elected city councillor has only made me conscious of how impressive Ms. Olive Urquhart's achievements were.
“I have the deepest respect and admiration for the many initiatives she started to improve life for Pointe-claire citizens, and for her trail-blazing leadership role in the 1950s, working as the only woman among her council. It seems fitting to have an impressive new fitness centre, designed to improve the physical and mental health of citizens, named in her honour.”
Thomas said the new sports centre has been nicely refurbished and will help meet the city's growing need for sports and recreation services.
“It looks fantastic inside,” he said after a tour of the new municipal building.
The facility includes a pool with a walk-in end and a slide, a double gym for pickleball, floor hockey, basketball, soccer, volleyball and badminton, a 150-metre running and walking track, two squash courts, a spinning room, boxing and stretching zones, training and weight rooms, studios and rooms for group classes and community activities.
It is also equipped with five locker rooms, including two reserved for people age 18 and older, with a whirlpool and steam room. It also has an elevator and an adapted locker room, allowing access for people with reduced mobility.
The public is invited to visit the facility during open house days, which run from Thursday, beginning at 5 p.m., to May 31.
The sports centre will be open Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Daily, monthly and annual membership rates vary for Pointe-claire residents and non-residents.
For example, a Pointe-claire resident adult (age 21-59) monthly membership is $37.50, or $375 annually. For a non-resident adult, the cost is $52.50 monthly or $520 annually.
A family membership for Pointeclaire
residents is $100 per month or $1,000 per year, while a non-resident family fee is $140 monthly, $1,400 annually.
To see a list of daily, monthly and annual rates, visit the city's website. Registration will be held on site.
The YMCA constructed the building at 230 Brunswick Ave. in 1986 to mark the 30th anniversary of its presence in Pointe-claire.
Though the city acquired the building last year, the YMCA will continue to offer group classes and community activities alongside municipal activities.