Pictou County Wellness Centre project complete

It was a day of firsts at Pictou County’s newest health and wellness facility.

Special Olympians donned their running shoes, skates and bathing suits to mark their place in the history books as the first people to grace the waters, ice surfaces, fitness centre and gym floor of the Pictou County Wellness Centre.

“It’s awesome,” said Greg Massaro who performed a few figure skating skills for a crowd of onlookers that included local politicians, businesspeople, community supporters and media for a first look at the new $38 million facility.

On Saturday, the morning ceremony began with an official flag raising followed by a tour of the multi-use facility that houses two NHL size ice surfaces, aquatics area, daycare, YMCA and conference rooms.

Pictou Landing elder Ralph Francis performed a blessing on the building and presented the Pictou County Wellness Centre Building Authority Chair Ron Baillie with an eagle feather.

The hour and half visit ended with passing of the key ceremony from main contractor Bird Construction to the Pictou County Wellness Centre Building Authority that is comprised of representatives from each stakeholder municipal unit within the county.  The building is managed by Nustadia Recreation Inc., led by general manager Mike Adam.  The YMCA of Pictou County will manage and operate the aquatic centre, fitness centre, childcare centre and gymnasium.

“Our community has been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Baillie. “This project has been in the works for many, many years and thanks to the dedication, hard work, cooperation and generosity of many people, we are proud to finally open the doors to the facility that the people of Pictou County truly deserve.

In addition to the passing of the key, Shirley, Elaine and Allen Locke were presented with a plaque in honour of their parents , Howard and Elsie Locke.

“As I am sure you are all aware, we have dedicated the YMCA to the Locke family and all the great things they have done to the Y,” said Dave MacIntrye, general manger of the YMCA of Pictou County. “We asked them if they would like to change the naming of the YMCA to Locke family YMCA and they said no.  They wanted to stick with the original plan that would say the YMCA of Pictou County.”

Prior to the opening of the YMCA, Howard and Elsie Locke opened their basement of their family home to boys and girls to the community for games like ping-pong, and pool.  They had land cleared for a ball field and provided the equipment to the players. In the winter the land was used for outdoor rinks.

The Locke’s later donated the land where the YMCA of Pictou County has been located for many years.

The Locke family were presented with a plague that had a quote from their father stating, “It’s purpose was to bring the many parts of the county together as a Christian organization for the development of mind, body and spirit. It is not an East Pictou Y, a Westville Y or an Eureka Y, but a Pictou County Y.”

Following the morning tour, guests were asked to exit the building so that construction workers could finish putting the finishing touches on the building.  The ice surface in the main arena was still be touched up while workers with white hard hats could be seen throughout various parts of the facility.

Outside of the complex, roadwork was continuing at Exit 23 off the Trans Canada Highways. Crews were expected to work throughout the weekend so new signal lights would be in place by Monday.

The Pictou County YMCA also delayed its opening by one day and will officially open its doors early Tuesday morning.

More firsts for the Pictou County Wellness Centre will continue in the next few weeks. The Pictou County Weeks Crushers Hockey organization is playing its first game in the main arena on Thursday. They will face off again the Truro Bearcats while the Weeks AAA Midgets have their first game at the centre on Saturday, December 8 against the Fredericton Canadiens.

The official grand opening has been scheduled for December 6 to 9th with a variety of activities and celebrations, including a ribbon cutting ceremony, free YMCA programming, a variety of ice sports such as the Mariposa figure skating show,  a breakfast with Santa fundraiser for the Pictou County Help Line, the JDRF Walk/Run for Juvenile Diabetes,  a wellness fair and a celebration of Pictou County gala event.