Blais continues to deliver on improving quality of life for Cumberland residents

Local sports and recreation champion Cumberland Ward Councillor Stephen Blais alongside Mayor Jim Watson celebrated the groundbreaking of the François Dupuis Recreation Centre’s (FDRC) new expansion.

“Almost three years to the day we opened this amazing facility in Cumberland Ward we are here again breaking ground on a new multi-million dollar expansion,” says Councillor Blais. “From the moment it opened the FDRC has been incredibly popular. Residents of all ages can swim, exercise and hold community meetings at the centre and following the expansion even more activities will be available to Orléans and Cumberland residents.”

Located at 2263 Portobello Boulevard in Ottawa’s east end, this state-of-the art facility is named in honour François Dupuis one of Orléans earliest settlers, and who also helped establish the area’s first Catholic Church in 1860. Construction of the François Dupuis Recreation Centre began in October 2011 and was first opened in June 2013. Funded completely by the City of Ottawa, the first phase was an $18.24 million dollar investment and was the first pool built in Ottawa since amalgamation.

“We have invested an additional $6 million dollars towards the new expansion for a total of over $24M to suit the needs of our residents,” says Councillor Blais. “With the addition of a full sized gymnasium, a multi-purpose room, new showers, change rooms, outdoor space, parking spots, and storage, we can offer more programmable and open space for the community to use.”

The original centre boasts a fully accessible 25m six-lane pool and 17.5m leisure pool, sauna, community meeting rooms, and a fitness and cardio centre. The new expansion will add nearly 12,000 square feet of new floor space. The new full sized gymnasium can also be split in two and will be built to accommodate a future rock-climbing wall.

For a virtually tour of the François Dupuis Recreation Centre please visit www.bit.ly/fdupuis.