On May 28, The City of Calgary announced the completion of a new 226 square metre (2,400 square foot) classroom building at Glenmore Sailing School featuring instruction space, changerooms, accessible washrooms and storage space for sailing equipment.
From right to left: Honourable Ric McIver, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ward 11 Councillor Jeromy Farkas and Katie Black, Acting General Manager of Community Services, The City of Calgary launch the Glenmore Sailing School expansion.
The original Glenmore Sailing School classroom building in South Glenmore Park was built in 1966. By 1981, the classroom no longer met amenity and space requirements for participants and a modular trailer was added to provide additional instruction space. Due to water damage, age and wear, the trailer was decommissioned in 2017.
This project allows Glenmore Sailing School to continue helping Calgarians learn important life and survival skills while promoting a positive lifestyle and building self-esteem.
"Glenmore Sailing School has been an important part of Calgary Recreation's high-quality, accessible and affordable sport and recreation mix available to citizens over the past 50 years," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. "This investment into the sailing school ensures it will continue to offer excellent training and programming for years to come."
City Council approved improvements to Glenmore Sailing School in 2019 as part of One Calgary 2019-2022 Service Plans and Budgets. The total cost of the project was $1.67 million. Approximately $1.12 million was provided by the Government of Alberta via the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) and approximately $550,000 via The City of Calgary's Community Investment Reserve (CIR).
"The Glenmore Sailing School is an excellent place for families to learn valuable skills about water safety while learning how to sail," said Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver. "By providing municipalities with an average of $722 million in Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding per year over the next three years, Alberta's government is proud to support local infrastructure that improves Albertans' quality of life while spurring our economy now. We're especially proud to provide $1.12 million to support lifelong opportunities for learning and family recreation at the Glenmore Sailing School."
The facility is now ready for the 2021 season, launching June 14 with canoe, kayak and sailboat rentals. Programming will be available based on provincial health restrictions.
"The Glenmore Sailing School is an exceptional program requiring no mill rate subsidy to operate," said Ward 11 Councillor Jeromy Farkas. "It represents more than 65 per cent of all sailing activity in Alberta. Calgarians can be proud to see this investment to allow the facility to be accessible year round, for all ages and all stages."
More information can be found at calgary.ca/RecreationProjects
