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VIDEO: Newton Recreation Centre gets $8 million in improvements

New-look, expanded rec centre’s ‘grand opening’ is Sept. 30
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Perry Fulop, community and recreation services manager for Newton, at the Newton Recreation Centre’s new exercise room. (Photo: Tom Zytaruk)

Perry Fulop can hardly wait to show off the new-and-improved Newton Recreation Centre, which has undergone $8 million in renovations.

Its grand opening will be Sept. 30. The recreation centre is at 13730 72 Avenue.

“We’re quite proud of it,” Fulop, community and recreation services manager for Newton, said of the new look.

He gave the Now-Leader a sneak peek. “Major structural changes have happened.”

Visitors to the centre are first greeted by a new children’s playground, and see a path through a grove of trees to the centre, a garden, and plaza benches.

“Before it was more segregated, there was no real entrance off the grove for an area where people can actually sit down,” Fulop said. “Saturday and Sunday morning it’s great, because kids are inside and outside. It’s a real crossover.”

The new lobby is 410 square feet larger, with new furniture and plants.

SEE ALSO: PHOTOS: New ‘Fern’ art at expanded Newton rec centre designed to reduce bird-window collisions

The Wave Pool features re-designed slide towers with enhancements, new pool side lockers, an improved area for birthday parties, new lighting, a new “interactive water feature,” washroom upgrades, new paint, new pool signage, head guardroom and first aid room improvements, and the pool roof has been completely replaced.

There has also been parking lot light upgrades, and there’s a new wrestling mat room on new second floor.

The mat room is dedicated to Randeep (Ravi) Sodhi (1974-2011), identified on a plaque as “Athlete by nature, Wrestler by choice.”

Sodhi was a six-time Canadian Senior National Wrestling medalist, 1997-2004, and 1997 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships gold medalist.

“Randeep’s spirit welcomes you to this mat room,” the plaque says. “Let your spirit drive you to become a better, stronger person…and make your dreams come true!”

Downstairs, there is a new expansive fitness room which has those who are exercising at fitness stations looking out through a window at grove. “It keeps the area much safer, because multiple people are looking at it,” Fulop says of the grove.

“This is the purpose behind the whole renovation,” he said of the new exercise room. “It’s approximately 4,000 square feet; when we combine it with our old fitness room it gives us about 8,000 square feet of fitness in the Newton Town Centre.”

You’ll find free weights, all kinds of machines, suspension and cardio equipment and stretching areas in this new, large fitness room.

“It’s very bright, well lit, and there’s windows all around. Very well used, very well attended.”



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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The Newton Wave Pool has a new roof as part of $8 million in renovations, says Perry Fulop. (Photo: Tom Zytaruk)


About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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