There were speeches to be made, cake to be eaten, and foam pits to jumped into.
And with that the new Calico Gymnastics building officially opened on Nov. 26.
Calico Board President, Carolyn Janidlo-MacLean, had plenty of people to thank, including All-Around sponsors, dozens of other sponsors, and former and current board members.
Raising the new building took a lot of forethought from a lot of different people, says Janidlo-MacLean.
“This dream is not about the board members who are standing here right but about the people who had the dream way back when and also the kids who will carry on this dream into the future.”
This is what the sponsors felt years ago was the future of Calico, says Janidlo-MacLean, that is what they were celebrating with the opening.
Everyone had a part in making Calico’s dream of a new building a reality, including Conexus Credit Union who donated to the building and also helped the club with their mortgage, Discovery Group of Companies and their large donation, the City of Humboldt who partnered with the club on a joint agreement, and GVG Construction who donated much in the way of time towards the new building.
Val Graf with GVG, along with husband Greg, says that their family is very passionate about the Calico project since her daughter has been part of the club for the past several years.
When Greg started to talk of retiring, Val says they could not even think of that until the Calico building was finished.
To that, Greg said, yes dear or something along those lines, laughs Val.
“Greg said, since Humboldt has been so supportive of our business over the last 30 years, that we do this as a last big final project as a way of giving back to the community.”
So that is what they did, donating their time and labour to the new building, to which Janidlo-MacLean says they could not thank them enough.
Construction took from May 31 and was completed on time on Sept. 25 and was appraised at $850,000. Along with donations and discounts from sponsors, it was completed to the tune of $575,000.
Though he was not willing to jump into the foam pit, Mayor Rob Muench says that he has seen many projects begin with members working with the City and other partners to get their project going. Good things happen, says Muench.
“We can all be very proud that your club has worked together to building something very quickly and will last for a long time.”
The new building is a great addition to Humboldt, says Muench, and “a grateful community thanks you.”
Glenn Hepp and Mike Parobec with Conexus Credit Union in Humboldt was very excited to be apart of the celebration and to see the building bring such joy to the Calico family.
“Giving back to where we have customers and where we have employees, the health benefits of this club and the enrollment in it make this a worthwhile cause for Humboldt,” says Hepp.
Gordon Lees with Discovery Group also took part in the celebration and also declined taking a leap into the foam pit.
Lees says it is a very exciting time to be a part of the celebration with the kids taking full advantage of the building for the day. This has been a welcome addition to the community and one that is long overdue, he says.
“This was one of those projects where it was something that was really needed...this is a project that is heavily geared towards kids which is one of our criteria when we decide what we are sponsoring.”
The club started over 15 years ago in the basement of St. Augustine Church, and since that time has moved to the mall, the old Del-air building, and then curling rink before being able to settle in their new building.
Janidlo-MacLean says they are never moving again and even though the dream of the building is complete, the club itself is not finished growing.
