Sunday August 30, 2020 ~ LANGFORD, BC
Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Langford Recreation Centre at Bear Mountain closed on March 14, 2020. Now it’s up for sale.
A company called Bear Mountain Adventures Ltd is the targeted buyer, at a price tag of $3,575,000. If the sale with a 25-year agreement goes through, the City of Langford would still receive a 10% discount for Langford residents who use it.
The North Langford Recreation Centre is situated in the Westin Bear Mountain Westin Golf Resort and Spa. It offers a swimming pool, hot tub, co-ed gym, ladies only gym, cross fit area, and a variety of drop in fitness classes. Next to the pool, during the summer months it would normally have a cabana-style restaurant in operation.
The aging facility needs upgrades after significant use over the past 15 years. Entry had been available to members and drop-ins, and probably will be again after a renovation.
A notice posted by the City on May 22 said “the end of the operating arrangement with Westin Bear Mountain Resort & Spa coincided with the closure of the North Langford Recreation Centre (NLRC) due to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Langford bought the centre in 2014 after Bear Mountain Master Partnership — a separate entity from Bear Mountain Adventures Ltd. — lost its properties due to financial problems.
Langford Mayor Stew Young is quoted as saying the City bought the rec centre “because they were going to look at redeveloping it into something else other than a recreation centre.” But apparently they kept it as a recreation centre for the growing Bear Mountain community to use.
Langford is big on recreation for their community, but is not always in the ownership loop. In the Westhills area, the YM/YWCA is a highly-used facility for Langford residents and broader community. Langford is an owner-partner of the Westshore Parks & Recreation facility in Colwood (co-owned with Colwood, View Royal, Highlands and Metchosin).
The City didn’t have money to invest in refurbishing the centre, but with a new business partner in Bear Mountain Adventures will be able to make additions such as a second pool and a children’s splash park. The centre would remain closed during renovations.
Rebranding lies ahead as part of a future reopening of a bigger facility with more amenities.
Formal approval of the sale will be on the City of Langford September 8 council meeting agenda.