When North Vancouver Recreation and Culture staff opened the doors to the brand new Delbrook Community Recreation Centre at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, there was a lineup of 30 people, eager to get in.
Almost five years since it was approved by District of North Vancouver, the $53.5-million, 95,000-square-foot facility began its phased opening this week, starting with the fitness centre and convertible squash/racquetball courts.
“This wonderful new centre is a direct investment in the public health of our community. There are spaces and activities for folks of all ages and physical abilities. Our council encourages all residents to come and explore what it has to offer,” said Mayor Richard Walton.
Although he doesn’t boast about his bench press, it’s in the fitness room that you’re most likely find Walton now.
“It’s going to be a very social, very community-oriented place. It’s very welcoming. I’ve found the weight rooms in so many facilities are cramped with low ceilings, etc. This one is really quite inviting for people to come and work out,” he said.
The facility replaces and consolidates the old William Griffin and Delbrook community centres. Council opted to come up with a new name, in part, because no one could remember who Griffin was.
For posterity: Griffin was an alderman (council member) for 10 years in the 1950s and 60s and a developer. He died while mowing his lawn in 1965. The adjoining park and soccer field will still bear his name.
Greeting visitors as they arrive are three major pieces of public art. Outside is a sculpture dubbed Salmon Cycle featuring a salmon with legs riding a bicycle. As they enter the lobby, they’ll find themselves standing on Close to Nature’s Heart, a floor treatment mimicking the veins of a leaf and displaying the names of nearby streets.
Lastly and most impressive for those who look up is a series of handblown and kiln fired glass raindrops called Hydrosphere that reflect and refract light.
From the lobby, the whole building and all its amenities are organized along a spine running east. Local architecture firm HDR CEI designed the building with an emphasis on wood and glass, maximizing the views of the natural surroundings and the amenities inside the building.
“You can almost watch the soccer game from the hot tub,” said Nicola Chevallier, section manager for facilities and special projects.
Inside the aquatic facility, which is set to open June 24, is a 25-metre, six-lane pool with one- and three-metre diving boards and high-end starting blocks, a balmier leisure tank, 20-jet hot tub and an oblong pool with moving current channel, which allows people to get resistance exercise (not to be mistaken for a lazy river).
Along the first and second floor, there are a series of multi-purpose rooms, which organizers expect will be in high demand for everything from yoga classes to board meetings and wedding receptions.
At the end of the spine are cultural aspects of North Vancouver Recreation and Culture, including the arts room, pottery studio and kilns. In September, the licensed preschool program from the existing Delbook will be moving over to new digs with a “natural playscape” featuring rocks and stumps and logs, the current trend in playground design.
Also in keeping with modern design, the building includes universal or all-gender washrooms and change rooms – large, individual cubicles with showers inside in which parents and children can go get ready for a dip without having to file into separate change rooms.
The only room not connected or visible from the spine is the youth centre. Its isolation is deliberate as studies have shown kids are more likely to drop in at one if there’s a sense of independence from mom and dad’s gaze.
Anne Rodgers, North Vancouver Recreation and Culture’s communications co-ordinator, beams when asked about Delbrook’s rolling debut.
“We can’t wait for the public to come and join us in seeing it and experiencing it. We’re really excited for all that we’re going to be able to do in terms of recreation and culture,” she said, noting that many in the surrounding neighbourhoods have had to go without for years. “The aquatics facility is state of the art. It’s beautiful. It’s got good capacity and I think the multi-purpose space that we have allows us to stay on trend on the needs of people.”
Matt Schofield, facilities project manager, agreed.
“There isn’t a centre like this on the North Shore,” he said. “It’s pretty neat.”
