Think of one of those really long Olympic gymnastics tumbling routines with a lot of flips and a few twists and turns, ending with both feet firmly planted, arms stretched way up high.
It was pretty much just like that for Dynamyx Gymnastics Club, too, except that this one continued on for a decade and, instead of a mat, it was a quest for a place to land while still smiling.
On Saturday, the club held its grand opening party to cut the ribbon at #110, 175 Carleton Dr., the newest and biggest by far of the four facilities it has operated out of since it opened in 1993.
Getting here from its long-standing spot on Chisholm Avenue was its most challenging and, therefore, most rewarding task.
“It's really a breath of fresh air, that we can grow our programs and everything along those lines,” sighed Raeann Lefebvre, president of the club’s board of directors.
To have natural light coming in and with greater parking for those harried, late-running parents also offers a huge relief that can’t fully be expressed, she said.
The move from one side of Campbell Business Park to the other — 1.25 kilometres as the crow flies, though much farther as the bureaucratic backfires and a pandemic got in the way — actually started in 2011. Its purpose was to keep up with increasing demand from families in the growing community, which necessitated an expansion away from the former roller rink/bingo hall with the curbside appeal of an industrial concrete bunker.
More gymnasts meant more space was needed for them all to up-and-down and side-to-side in order to master their routines. More space also means more financial support; the project's price tag was hovering around the $1 million mark. When city council voted to reduce its funding to the nonprofit from nearly $95,000 down to $65,000 one year ago, the setback made progress all the more difficult, especially coming during the height of the first wave of the pandemic.
Dynamyx obtained a Community Facility Enhancement Program grant from the Alberta government and was able to work with its new landlord for startup assistance as well. The groundbreaking ceremony in February 2020 had construction company PCL aiming for the fall. The pandemic put a kibosh on that schedule, and rising costs put other hiccups in the process, too. It was shut down for a full six months, paying full rent at the old Chisholm location and funding the build of the Carleton one.
Now with its new doors open for business, there are still some items on the list left unchecked.
"We had to do a few cutbacks here and there with PCL, just because of COVID," said executive director Kim Farrell, offering the example of some areas where flooring still hasn't been laid down.
"Things that weren't going to be disasters for us if we didn't have it," she described. "Things we can fundraise [for] later on."
"It turned into an extremely challenging time," added Lefebvre. "Thank goodness for some of the larger grants that came through from the province, and the smaller one that obviously came through from the city. Those did benefit us in helping us get some of the things that we needed, but we would love to do some additional things that we just had to scale back what we had to do — the wants versus the needs."
Work in progress though it might still be, the new clubhouse was a crowded scene of relief and playtime on the weekend for the grand opening.
"We have an amazing support from the staff and from the parents and from the community. Our fall registration ... we're very happy with the results coming out of COVID," Farrell confirmed.
All the staff, parents, and students are certainly pleased with the 24,512 square foot space for training and play. In addition to continuing to offer those outstanding birthday parties, Dynamyx now also allows for people to rent activity rooms for yoga classes.
