Pool Closed on Friday at Noon

The Centre's pool will be closed today at noon until Saturday morning at 7 a.m.  We will be doing some maintenance on the pool pump motor, replacing the bearings.  We'll also do some additional maintenance in the pool to take advantage of the down time.

Sorry for the short notice and inconvenience with the pool closure.  Taking care of the bearings now will assure we don't have bigger issues with our pool pump motor down the road.

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

BEFORE

AFTER

If you haven't driven by in a few days you'll notice something is missing!

March 28th Update from Earlier this Week

Things are really starting to move now!  As you have probably seen the sidewalks are coming out, the water line for the sprinkler system was put in last Friday and the big news is that starting Tuesday the old armory side of the building will be coming down!

Items for this week (March 26-30):

· Monday through Wednesday demolition of the old armory side of the building.  Kids Kove will be closed these 3 days.  The scheduled start time for the building to come down is on Tuesday.  We don’t have an exact time yet but if you want to come and witness history it will be on Tuesday!

· A temporary sidewalk will be put in on Monday or Tuesday.  This will be for the change in entrance during the construction.  Our new entrance for the next 4 months will be down by the locker rooms.  We’ll ask members to enter through the current emergency exits.

Items for next week (April 2-6):

· The entire front of the building will be fenced off.

· The entrance will move to the south end of the building (watch for signs).

· The gymnasium will be closed during spring break week.  Kids Kove will be moving into the 4K room as there is no 4K during spring break.

· In the gym the old air handling unit will be removed that was with the old steam boiler, which also will be removed and replaced with energy efficient roof top units.

· Footings will also be poured during the week.

· The front internal vestibule will be removed.

If you have any questions please feel free to give Darian Blattner a call at 246-2252 or e-mail him at dblattner@nracentre.com.  You can also keep up to date with construction happenings, including pictures through our website at www.nracentre.com.

Monday,, March 26...Things are happening!

Things are really starting to move now!  As you have probably seen the sidewalks are coming out, the water line for the sprinkler system was put in last Friday and the big news is that starting Tuesday the old armory side of the building will be coming down!

Items for this week (March 26-30):

· Monday through Wednesday demolition of the old armory side of the building.  Kids Kove will be closed these 3 days.  The scheduled start time for the building to come down is on Tuesday.  We don’t have an exact time yet but if you want to come and witness history it will be on Tuesday!

· A temporary sidewalk will be put in on Monday or Tuesday.  This will be for the change in entrance during the construction.  Our new entrance for the next 4 months will be down by the locker rooms.  We’ll ask members to enter through the current emergency exits.

Items for next week (April 2-6):

· The entire front of the building will be fenced off.

· The entrance will move to the south end of the building (watch for signs).

· The gymnasium will be closed during spring break week.  Kids Kove will be moving into the 4K room as there is no 4K during spring break.

· In the gym the old air handling unit will be removed that was with the old steam boiler, which also will be removed and replaced with energy efficient roof top units.

· Footings will also be poured during the week.

· The front internal vestibule will be removed.

If you have any questions please feel free to give me Darian Blattner a call at 246-2252 or e-mail at dblattner@nracentre.com. 

The Work Begins

Three pictures from the start of construction today!  Lots happening right now!

Bring A Hammer Day at the Centre

BRING A HAMMER DAY

at the Centre is this Friday, March 23rd!

What is Bring A Hammer Day?  Well it’s a fun way for our members to get a chance to leave their mark on the old armory side of the facility.  We’ll arm you with a hard hat and one of our staff will go with you to “leave your mark” in our facilities history.  You’ll be able to make a hole, or holes, in the section of building that will be torn down beginning on Monday, March 26.

Along with leaving your mark we will have you sign your spot and take a picture of you for historical purposes.  We’ll then print the pictures and put them on the large windows in front of the red lobby!

We will also be having 2 large group picture opportunities this Friday.  The first being at 11 am right out in front of the old armory side and the second being at 6 pm right out in front of the old armory side. 

Be a part of history in the first, and probably only, BRING A HAMMER DAY at the Centre.  Don’t worry, if you don’t have a hammer we will provide one for you. 

March 19th Construction Update

The final approval has been received from the City of New Richmond.  We now wait for them to review the documents, sign, and return and the construction process will begin full force.  We anticipate the return of the documents to happen on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.

Due to this we have an updated plan for when the old armory side will come down.  The new schedule will be for it to come down next Monday, March 26 through Wednesday, March 28.  During this time we will close the gymnasium so unfortunately we will not have Kids Kove on these three days.

We apologize for this inconvenience and we expect this to be the only time that Kids Kove will not be able to operate during the remodeling project.

Watch for additional updates on the schedule and join us as we see the old building come down next week.  Also look for updated construction layouts in the front vestibule.

If you have any questions please feel free to give Darian Blattner a call at 246-2252 or e-mail at dblattner@nracentre.com.

Construction Update for March 15

As part of the process for tearing down the old armory side of the building we had to do an asbestos test.  That test has been completed and we have received the results of the testing and I want to share the information with you. 

The testing revealed that we have some asbestos in the old steam boiler room, in some tile under an old freezer, and in the wrapping of some piping that is covered in the ceiling.  None of this asbestos has been disturbed or exposed so it doesn’t cause any health concerns as it is but since we plan to tear down the building we have to follow the appropriate procedures for abating the asbestos to be sure there are no health risks.

We have scheduled this work to happen on Monday, March 19 through Wednesday, March 21.  While the areas being worked on will all be contained and the Centre will be safe we wanted to be sure you were aware of what was happening so you can choose whether or not you wanted to utilize the Centre on those three days.

The safety of our members and staff is of the highest importance.  If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call at 246-2252 or e-mail me at dblattner@nracentre.com.

Sincerely,

Darian Blattner

Executive Director

Construction Update for March 14

I hope you are getting a chance to enjoy this wonderful weather and record highs!  It looks like spring is upon us.

Here is what happened this past week:

· The gymnasium closed at 8 pm on Saturday night.  We moved Kids Kove into the gym on Sunday and opened for business in the gym Monday morning.  Just a reminder for members who use Kids Kove you will need to enter the gymnasium through the weight room.  Just follow the coned path through the weight room into the gymnasium.

· The old, two story side of the Centre has been emptied and is ready for the power to be cut, piping flushed and the eventual tearing down of the old armory side of the building.

Highlights for the week of March 18th through the 24th:

· Completion of the power shut down and piping closure.

· The old side is set to begin being razed on March 22nd.  That date is flexible at this point as we are waiting on one final approval from the City of New Richmond.  Once we have that approval then we will be able to pinpoint the dates.  When we are tearing down the old side of the building we will not allow anyone into the gymnasium.  While we do not expect any issues we just don’t want to put anyone at any possible risk while the old side is being torn down.

We have a tentative schedule for the additional parking project and it is looking like early May we will be adding some additional spots.  Final asphalting won’t be complete until Fall most likely but we’ll have some additional gravel spots to be used.

We are also working with a local landscaping company on putting in some bushes on the south side of the building in front of the patio fence and on the south side of the newer parking lot to help shade car lights from our neighbors front yard.  Lots of action will soon be happening.

Thank you for being a member of the Centre and for your patience during the renovations.  If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call at 246-2252 or e-mail me at dblattner@nracentre.com.

Gymnasium Closes on Saturday Night

Just a reminder Centre members and guests that the gymnasium will be closing on Saturday evening at 8 pm and will re-open once the expansion and remodel project is complete in early August.
Starting on Monday, Kids Kove will be in the gymnasium.

The facility will remain open during the remodel project.

Construction Update...March 7th

It’s an exciting time at the Centre and this is the first of our weekly construction updates.

Here is what has happened so far this week:

· A temporary room has been created in the red lobby.  You may have seen it going up and it will house some of our staff during the project.  A huge thanks to our very own Vince Dreyer who put the walls up himself this week and the CIP who have been moving the heavy stuff downstairs.

· An opening has been prepped in the weight room that will be completed on Sunday that will be the new opening to the gymnasium during the project.  This work was also done by Vince.

Highlights for the week of March 11th through the 17th:

· The gymnasium will be closing at 8 pm on Saturday night.  We will be moving Kids Kove into the gym on Sunday and starting on Monday, March 12, Kids Kove will be in the gym until the completion of the expansion project.  For members who use Kids Kove you will need to enter the gym through the weight room.  The gym will no longer be open for shooting hoops.  We apologize for having to close the gymnasium but it was our best option to expedite the construction process.

· The old, two story side of the Centre will be emptied and while it may appear that nothing is happening, over the course of the next week we will be cutting off power to that side of the building along with flushing out all the piping that supports the steam boiler.  This has to be done so we can get the old side of the building ready to be torn down, which is scheduled to happen March 21-23.

We will do our very best to provide you with 24 hours notice when changes to the normal routine have to be made.  You can also follow the progress through our web site which has a link to our Centre blog.  Once we get to April 1st (no fooling) most of the inside work will be complete and we should have fewer interruptions.

Cars in the Parking Lot

We wanted to make all our members aware that yesterday we had two cars broken into in the Centre parking lot. The cars had their windows smashed and valuables taken from their cars. We want everyone to be extra vigilant and please do not leave any valuables in your car. 
Additionally if you see anything suspicious please let a Centre staff person know right away or call 911.