Our History

For more than fifteen years, the Yellowknife Gymnastics Club actively raised money to build a dedicated gymnastics facility of our own. Over the years, the Club has had to relocate from one school gymnasium to another as its programs grew. In 1999, when the Club had to relocate yet again because the school in which it operated was slated for demolition, it kicked its fundraising efforts into full gear and serious planning began to build the new facility. The Club was lucky to be able to use an old construction garage owned by the City of Yellowknife until May, 2002 while it raised enough to get this project off the ground.

In July of 2001, the Club partnered with the City of Yellowknife who agreed to add a dedicated gymnastics facility to the constructions plans for their new, twin pad arena. Construction began on the project early in the spring of 2002 and after a number of delays, was opened on February 10th, 2003.

The facility was officially opened on September 28th, 2003 with a grand party.

How did we do it?

The easy answer is "with a lot of hard work and even more help from our friends". The membership did a lot of work raising money, doing everything from bake sales to the raffle of an AMC Hummer. But the new building would still be a dream if it weren't for the support of the community. Some of those who have pitched in are:

City of Yellowknife
PSAV Architects
Yellowknife Elk's Club
Lions Club
NWT Gymnastics Association
NorthwesTel Inc.
AD Williams Engineering
PCL Northern
Wallbridge & Associates
BHP Billiton
Diavik Diamond Mines
Hovat Construction
Allard Foundation
Artisan Press
Tait Communications
Autotech
Radio Shack
First Air
Bob Kussy/Goota Ashoona
Diamond Glass
Home Building Centre
Keenan Bengts Law