The Polarettes Gymnastics Club has taken a leap forward toward the opening of its new facility.
The club received $20,000 from the territorial Community Development Fund (CDF) to hire a project manager to oversee the transition to the new gym and climbing facility under construction in Whistle Bend.
The new hire is Troy Klett, who also works with Northwestel Inc.
Acting executive director Alysia Hornblower explained what the funding means to the club.
“It was super-important to us. We need a little bit of help because our staff is obviously running the gym and then our board members are all volunteers.
“We have somebody who – this is really in their wheelhouse,” Hornblower said. “We just want to make sure we don’t miss anything as we’re growing and moving forward.”
Apparently, the money will be well-spent. Hornblower said that the role has been filled.
“We hired somebody for Phase One, which is June to November and then we’ll be applying for a Phase Two, November until next August.”
Hornblower said the idea is to have someone there to help with the equipment coming in.
Klett, she said, “is going to be doing this outside of his regular job, kind of as a passion project. To make sure that we’re well set up for the new facility.”
According to Hornblower, Klett qualified for the position based on his experience as a project manager, as well as his passion for the role.
“Troy is very passionate about the gymnastics gym and having it succeed and move forward and just benefiting the community and everybody here.”
Klett has 10 years of experience as a project manager.
The government will own the facility and will enter into long-term lease agreements with the Polarettes and Climb Yukon Association.
“We’d be responsible for everything on the interior of the building,” explained Hornblower.
According to YG communications analyst Taylor Harvey, the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) funded $31.6 million, with the territorial government investing $2.5 million into the facility.
The building will be more than 3,000 square feet.
Hornblower said they still need to come up with $1.3 million for the equipment for the new gym. So far, they have raised an impressive $400,000.
The Polarettes will be applying for the rest of the money, about $900,000, from the CDF and Lotteries Yukon. They are hoping to get in an application to CDF by October.
The club has been told that construction is still on schedule. The building is currently projected to be completed by March 31, 2025.
“The steel structure is completely up and they’re in the process of erecting all the walls at this time,” said Hornblower.
The club currently has 1,600 members, with another 450 on a waiting list. It experienced a growth of 11.5 per cent in enrolment from the year before, and eventually hopes to have more than 2,000 members using the new facility.
The Polarettes will host the 2026 Arctic Winter Games in the new building, as well as the Western Canadian Artistic Championships.
