It is sadly official. Nautilus Plus, located at the Cavendish  Club in Côte Saint-Luc is closing its doors. The move affects hundreds of longtime members.

This location has been in operation for several decades, offering personal training, fitness and nutrition programs. There is a nice swimming pool, where many youngsters have learned how to swim, racquetball and squash courts and of course a large room of nautilus equipment where  people can enjoy socializing and getting into shape.

The club officially close for business on  February 29.  When I dropped by to find out why it is shutting down, I was told that the lease was up and the company wanted to go in a new direction. Members will be given rebates or offered  to use one of the other Nautilus Plus facilities,

There is no question that the opening of our magnificient Aquatic and Community Centre has had an impact on other local health and exercise centres.  The swimming programs at our two fabulous pools are going strong. We have a modest workout room overlooking the pool, a room for dance clases, a mini library and soon a café. There is place for youth to congregate, large meeting rooms, headquarters for our seniors and Legion group and a large gymnasium attached to the facility.

Quebec Minister of Municipal Affairs Laurent Lessard (far right in the photo below) visited Côte Saint-Luc's spanking new $18 million Aquatic and Community Centre on November 4.

Minister Lessard's department provided one-third of the funding. I was on hand to greet him with Mayor Anthony Housefather, Councillors Dida Berku and Ruth Kovac and D'Arcy McGee MNA Lawrence Bergman, who played an important role in actually securing the funds.

In February of 2010 we held a press conference at City Hall with Minister Lessard on hand to announce our plan for the ACC and the financing from the provincial and federal governments. From the moment we put the shovel in the ground, the ACC was built in an incredible 10 months. We felt it was important for the Minister to see that our dream came to fruition. Mayor Housefather and City Manager Tanya Abramovitch led him on a tour of the two pools, the multi-purpose meeting room and kitchen, the children’s play area, the art  room, the teens lounge, the workout room and the senior’s headquarters where some members were on hand to greet him. He was most impressed.

Representatives from community organizations were impressed with our new ACC.

I established the Intercommunity Relations Committee six years ago as a way to bring community organizations operating within Côte Saint-Luc the opportunity to connect. Many  successful meetings have taken place, often hosted by the organizations themselves such as Maimonides Geriatric Centre, the CLSC Réne Cassin, Beth Zion Congregation, Congregation   Or Hahayim,  Mount Sinai Hospital and Bialik High School.

With the very recent opening of the state-of-the-art $18 million Aquatic and Community Centre (ACC) on Parkhaven Avenue, it was only appropriate to gather organizational reps for a tour of the facility.

Director of Parks and Recreation David Taveroff and City Councillor Ruth Kovac  (co-chair of the  project) served as the guides. Not surprisingly everyone in the group  was very impressed with the building and its facilities.

The ACC was designed to promote and facilitate active lifestyles and promote wellness, in the holistic sense of the term. People will be able to benefit from an indoor competition pool, an indoor recreation pool, a fitness room, a teen lounge, a games rooms, a kids room and babysitting service, a large rentable space for parties and conferences (something which community organizations were particularly interested in), a dance and aerobic studio, senior lounges, a library branch, an art studio and more.

Mr. Taveroff explained that since the building’s official opening on September 6, “we have had an overwhelming response to the programs we are offering. Every day people line up to register. It has gone beyond our expectations.”

As part of the tour Councillor Kovac showed everyone the spot in the atrium of the building where a brand new café will soon be operational. From there people can look out at the soon to be unveiled Imagination Park, located right by the outdoor pool. It was explained that the wonderful indoor gymnasium, built in 2001, was connected to the new complex. Besides hosting many of the city’s own programs, the gym is rented out by local schools.

Regarding the large  multi-purpose room, Mr. Taveroff explained  that it will be able  to seat 375 people cabaret and 435 theatre style. It can also be divided into three smaller rooms. There is a full kitchen (not kosher). It is anticipated that  this will be available for rentals towards the end of October.

The governments of Quebec and Canada gave Côte Saint-Luc grants totalling up to a maximum of $11.57 million, which equals two-thirds of the costs of building the facility. The City of Côte Saint-Luc funded the other third. 

After breaking ground on the future site of the Aquatic and Community Centre only last October, the City of Côte Saint-Luc has completed construction of the facility and proudly welcomed the public to an open house on Sunday, August 28.

Despite the presence of Hurricane Irene, huge crowds came out to see for themselves our newest pride and joy. The ACC is located at 5794 Parkhaven Ave. (corner Mackle Rd.). There was music and entertainment for kids, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and water polo and synchronized swimming exhibitions.  Also, the public was invited to tour the building.

Conservative Senator Judith Seidman, Liberal  Member of Parliament for Mount Royal Irwin Cotler and D'Arcy McGee Liberal MNA Lawrence Bergman were among the dignitaries who joined us. They are pictured with Mayor Housefather and I at the left, with the pools in the background.

“Getting the ACC built on time and on budget is a tremendous accomplishment for our city council,” our Mayor Anthony Housefather said. “I have no doubt that this facility—both the aquatic side and community side—will become a community hub together with the adjoining gymnasium and outdoor pool. I certainly plan on spending a lot of time there myself.”

The ACC will open for business on Tuesday, September 6. Regular building hours will be weekdays from 6 am to 11 pm, and weekends from 8 am to 10 pm.

ACC Open House / Portes ouvertes CCA from CSL TV on Vimeo.

As a city council we are so proud to bring such a magnificent facility to our community. I would like to single out our City Manager Tanya Abramovitch, Director of Parks and Recreation David Taveroff , Project Manager  Anthony Palumbo and co-chairs of the ACC Committee, Councillors Ruth Kovac and Mitchell Brownstein.

Walking through the building today was a surreal experience. Having visited during the construction phases, it is hard to believe it is now a fully funtioning facility which I know will become a draw for more young families and retired senior citizens to move here.  At the right, Councillor Brownstein and I admire some of the machines in the workout room.

Sidney Margles, the one-time broadcaster and TMR councillor, now chairs our Senior Men's Club.  He proudly welcomed visitors to their new headquarters. No longer will they have to rent the second floor of the Côte Saint-Luc Shoppping Centre.  Sid told me that the Men's Club's annual Dinner Dance will take place at the ACC on October 30, instead of at a rented hall in St. Laurent as has been the case in recent years.

You can go to our special website setup for the ACC for more details. Also, read Councillor Glenn J. Nashen's excellent blog posting.

Côte Saint-Luc Aquatic and Community Centre Open House

The community  is  invited to the Aquatic and Community Centre Open House in the City of Côte Saint-Luc on Sunday.  We will proudly unveil our magnficent $17.5 million facility.

WHAT:                Aquatic and Community Centre open house 
WHERE:             5794 Parkhaven Ave. (corner Mackle Rd.) 
WHEN:                Sunday, August 28, 2011, ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1 pm 

For more information about the Aquatic and Community Centre, visit www.CoteSaintLuc.org/en/ACC.

Your mayor and members of city council have had a number of opportunities already to see the progress of construction of the new  $18 million Côte Saint-Luc Aquatic and Community Centre  (the  ACC), which is expected to open its doors on Parkhaven Avenue by September.  We had our latest sneak preview a few days ago and I was just astonished at how much work has been done since they first broke ground last fall.

The complex will include a 10-lane competition pool (which I am standing by above), a recreational pool, the Senior Social Centre, multipurpose rooms for meetings and banquets, a satellite public library, a dance studio, an art studio, an exercise room with physical fitness equipment, a games room, a youth drop-in room, a kids gymnasium room, a babysitting service for parents using the facility, a coffee shop, and an exterior terrace.

Our ACC has been a project that community leaders have long dreamed of. As a former competitive swimmer, one of  Mayor Anthony Housefather’s  dreams has been to bring an indoor swimming pool to the city. Our competition pool will allow us to have a swim team, a master’s team, a synchronized swimming team, a water polo team, and other activities such as free swim, swimming lessons for older kids, and programs to prepare them to become lifeguards.”  The recreational pool will also provide games and fun for families, a beach area, swim lessons for younger children, aquasize classes and more.

The governments of Quebec and Canada have given Côte Saint-Luc grants totaling up to a maximum of $11.57 million, which equals two-thirds of the costs of building the facility. Mayor Housefather and councillors Mitchell Brownstein and Ruth Kovac (pictured above with Councillor Glenn J. Nashen) are overseeing the project. City Manager Tanya Abramovitch and Parks and Recreation Director David Taveroff are the key leaders among senior staff while we are very fortunate to have someone of the calibre of Anthony Palumbo to take care of the day-to-day operations of the work crew

I am very excited, as the Côte Saint-Luc City Councillor responsible for sponsorship, that we have engaged the services of   BNP Strategies Philanthropic Management (BNP) to conduct a feasibility study for a fundraising campaign for the ACC. When I was first elected and handed this portfolio I immediately set out to  establish a process where we could move towards the areas of event and program sponsorship and ultimately naming rights. Within two years of the start of our first mandate a series of guidelines were approved by council. Sponsorship agreements for events and of certain publications also started  to take shape. The coming of the ACC, I believe, provides really opportunities for naming rights.   I am anxious to see the case statement BNP presents to us in the early summer.

 
Councillor Sam Goldbloom likes what he sees.