Simon Fuller\nTravis Vandenbrand, the general manager of Greendell Park Community Centre, said the centre plays an important role in the community. The centre, located at 75 Woodlawn Ave., will receive $330,000 in funding from the Province and the City for a number of improvements and upgrades, it was announced recently.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\nTravis Vandenbrand, the centre’s general manager, said the new air conditioning will be a massive boon for the facility, as it will it will enhance the comfort levels in the building at the hottest times of the year.<\/p>\n
“Air conditioning is essential when we get to July and August, when it’s extremely hot and humid in the building,” Vandenbrand said, noting the centre is a social mecca that holds numerous community-focused events such as birthday parties, showers and socials.<\/p>\n
“This will allow us to maximize our potential as a 12-month facility.”<\/p>\n
In terms of Greendell’s role in the community, Vandenbrand said while the centre — which serves parts of St. Vital, south St. Vital and Normand Park — has “a couple of big neighbours” in Dakota and Southdale community centres — it serves a large cross-section of the community.<\/p>\n
“We have a large gym with a high ceiling and 400-person capacity and we provide affordable, good quality options for our users compared to the absolute high-end facilities,” Vandenbrand said.<\/p>\n
Whether it’s programming for seniors, adults or youth, there is plenty on offer, as programs include court sports including badminton and pickleball, fitness and yoga, soccer, dance, baton, and taekwondo, to name a few.<\/p>\n
“We also have new moms and toddlers fitness classes, so there’s definitely still a need for programs in the community and we have a good mix. People always end up coming back.”<\/p>\n
Vandenbrand said the gym’s large capacity is an attractive open option for couples holding socials.<\/p>\n
“It’s interesting that while the number of socials in the province is going down, the number of socials we hold is going up,” he said, noting the centre held eight in March, and will hold around 40 in total this year.<\/p>\n
According to a news release, provincial funding for the centre is provided through the Manitoba\/Winnipeg Infrastructure Agreement.<\/p>\n
This project is funded equally by the Province and the City at a total cost of $330,000, officials say. The improvements are expected to be completed in the summer.<\/p>\n
Vandenbrand said the centre has also received “a $40,000 grant from the City to renovate the front face” of the building. Work is expected to start soon.<\/p>\n
A key to the centre’s sustainability is a long-term strategic plan. Board members are currently encouraging community members to provide feedback as to what should be included in the plan. The plan will include future programming, policies and capital projects.<\/p>\n
“We will be creating a survey for residents, and we also encourage emails and phone conversations, as we want to incorporate the needs and wants of our residents into the future vision of the centre,” Vandenbrand said.<\/p>\n
“As well, the foundation of community centres is volunteers. They are the lifeblood or our organization and it’s very important that parents are able to volunteer some time in any capacity, whether it’s coaching, convening, taking an active role on the board, or just donating a couple of hours during our special events.”<\/p>\n
Call the centre at 204-257-6883 about volunteer opportunities. Go online at www.greendell.ca for more information.<\/p>\n
simon.fuller@canstarnews.com<\/p>\n
Facebook.com\/TheLanceWPG
Twitter: @lanceWPG<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":253127303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"education-subject":[],"media-literacy-topic":[],"post_topic":[],"content_type":[24],"class_list":["post-417838703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lance"],"acf":{"short_title":"","seo_title":"","deck":"New air conditioning system, among other upgrades, to enhance community centre","story_tag":"","byline":"Simon Fuller","updates":null},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/lance\/2017\/03\/31\/greendell-cc-getting-a-whole-lot-cooler","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Greendell CC getting a whole lot cooler","url":"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/lance\/2017\/03\/31\/greendell-cc-getting-a-whole-lot-cooler","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/lance\/2017\/03\/31\/greendell-cc-getting-a-whole-lot-cooler"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/04\/sf-greendell1-april5.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.winnipegfreepress.com\/our-communities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/04\/sf-greendell1-april5.jpg"},"articleSection":"The Lance","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"feedloaderapi"}],"creator":["feedloaderapi"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Our Communities","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2017-04-01T00:43:00Z","datePublished":"2017-04-01T00:43:00Z","dateModified":"2017-04-01T00:47:41Z"},"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t