Bluewater Gymnastics 2023 Blackburn Media photo by Melanie Irwin.Bluewater Gymnastics 2023 Blackburn Media photo by Melanie Irwin.
Sarnia

Gymnastics club seeks expansion to host competitions

City staff have been given the green light to discuss lease options with the Bluewater Gymnastics Club [BGC].

Three were presented to council on Monday; a five year renewal, a ten year renewal that includes an expansion and a final option would see the club buy the facility and lease the land.

BGC's Lauren McDonald said if they were able to expand the facility by 2,500 square feet they'd be able to grow their member base and host competitions.

"Right now, as it currently stands, our elite athletes actually have to start running from the change room in order to meet the distance that they need to run before hitting the vault," said McDonald.

She said they currently have almost 1,000 youth members, and 65 per cent are under 5-years-old.

"Our preference would be to expand at the option one price, if we could have the best of all worlds, but yes, we would like to stay. We love the facility and we would love to continue to find a way to grow and do more at that space."

The club, which has three full time and 30 part-time staff, has been located in the facility in Lottie Neely Park since 2002.

It was designed in partnership with the city and purposely built for recreation and competitive gymnastics programming.

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