'Boro centre transformation continues
Community centre expansion and improvement project should be unveiled by end of the year
A work in progress: Construction of the expansion to the Queensborough Community Centre is underway and expected to be completed by the end of the year. The $7.67-million project will include a new community police office, branch library, childcare hub and more.
Photograph by: Larry Wright , THE RECORD
Queensborough residents are anxiously awaiting the completion of the new-and-improved community centre.
The Queensborough Community Centre is considered to be the heart of the community and a meeting place for many residents.
"It's progressing really well," said Renee Chadwick, manager of the community centre. "We are still scheduled to be open by the end of the year. Most of the windows are in. They are doing dry walling."
Chadwick said the new building looks "awesome" - so much so that some people have been left speechless when she's taken them on tours of the construction site.
After two years of planning, construction of the new 13,180 square foot expansion the community centre got underway in July 2011.
Once the expansion is complete, the expanded fitness area will be located on the second level of the new building.
The community centre's administrative offices will be moving into the Port Royal room at the centre in October.
The centre was closed as work continued at the beginning of October. "We won't open again till Oct. 29," Chadwick said. "We are relocating our offices. We are going to do some floor removal in the existing facility. They need time to do that piece."
While the centre is closed, services have been offered at Queensborough Middle School and Queen Elizabeth Elementary School. Fitness classes will be offered at the nearby Sikh temple. Meeting space will be available at a condominium complex in Port Royal and a book club will meet at a local café.
"They are making it work. They know it is temporary," she said of residents' response to the construction. "They know they are coming home at the end of the year."
When complete, the Queensborough Community Centre will house a community police office, multi-purpose rooms, a branch library, an expanded fitness centre, and a childcare hub (including a daycare centre that will be operated by the Port Coquitlam Daycare Society).
The City of New Westminster's budget for the expansion and improvement project is $7.67 million. Development assistance compensation funding, which was negotiated by the city as part of gaming expansion in New Westminster, is providing $6.2 million toward the project.
