Northern Water Sports Centre officials looking forward to future

The year 2016 was a very busy one for those involved with the Northern Water Sports Centre in Sudbury.

The newly-constructed building on Ramsey Lake was completed last spring, and its three affiliate clubs the Sudbury Canoe Club, the Sudbury Rowing Club and the Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival moved in.

• Sudbury's Northern Water Sports Centre just a few weeks away from opening its doors

The groups are still fundraising, however, to ensure the work outside the facility is completed, said Ron Mulholland, the centre's chair.

"Right now [the boat apron] is crushed stone which is not the best for our para-sports participants and for anyone walking across in bare feet, so we're fundraising to put locked stone in there," Mulholland said.

They're also planning on finishing the accessibility ramp in the front of the building and driveway.

Despite the facility'sneed for finishing touches, all the groups saw an increase in their respective membership enrolments, including a 30 to 35 per cent increase for the Sudbury Canoe Club, Mulholland said.

Dragon boat practices were also popular at the new building since team members could sit on the outdoor patio after practice for a beverage, Mulholland said.

A 'positive, physical facility'

Thomas Merritt, the centre's former chair, said there's no immediate timeline set to get all the finishing touchesin place, but noted that the centre plans to host several national championship events, including Kayak Water Polo in July, and is in talks to be part of the hosting team looking to host the 2021 Canada Summer games.

"It's a positive, physical facility in our town that we can all be proud of," Merritt said.

"What we're really trying to do is see if we can find a way to get the community support behind that apron sooner rather than later so that we can get that in place early in the season, and have that for this paddling season," Merritt said.