With the 25-year anniversary of Bonsor Recreation Complex around the corner, Burnaby will have two reasons to celebrate in late September.
The new 55-plus seniors' centre, recently relocated from Bonsor to a nearby 8,200-square-foot, twostorey building, will celebrate its grand opening on Sept. 28, according to Dave Ellenwood, director of parks and recreation.
"I think it'll be great," Ellenwood said about the new seniors' centre. "I think it's a place where people over 55 can come and spend some leisure time and socialize with people. It's very important for seniors to be active mentally and physically."
The new seniors' centre was funded by a density bonus from the Polygon development in the Metrotown area.
"Council asked the seniors' society if they think it was a good idea to have the density bonus come in the form of a brand new seniors' centre," he said. "And they said, 'Yes, let's do it.' But nobody looks at a brand new facility and says, 'Over my dead body,
I don't want that.'" The new facility was designed with the interests of the society in mind, and Ellenwood said the snooker room is a feature to note.
"Some of the traditional elements of the seniors' centre they really wanted to improve," he added. "They're getting about 1,000 more square footage total than what they had access to in the rec centre."
The centre has a pool room, a lounge, carpet bowling, card tables and a computer room.
"It'll be more modern so that people can engage in those activities that they traditionally like to do (and) that are very popular," Ellenwood said.
There will also be an opportunity for classes, he added.
The seniors' society will operate the centre, but the City of Burnaby will maintain it, provide custodial staff and have staff run some programs, according to Ellenwood.
The celebration is set for Sept. 28 from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will include cake, a free swim and other activities at Bonsor.
