A block away from Yaletowns Hamilton Street, where posses of young women in stilettos navigate the cobblestone sidewalks, theres a buggy brigade parked outside the gym at the Roundhouse Community Centre.
When the neighbourhoods former warehouses were transformed into one of Vancouvers trendy restaurant districts after Expo 86, everyone thought that, as the young condo buyers aged, theyd forego the vibrant streetlife in exchange for a house in the suburbs.
But, as the two dozen baby strollers at Roundhouse attest, thats not what happened. The young residents see their children as an addition to their way of life, not a reason to leave it behind. The 2006 Census estimates that 3,000 children live in Yaletown and 420 of them are enrolled in Elsie Roy Elementary School, which uses David Lam Park as its outdoor playground and the Roundhouse as a recreational programming space.
Down the hall from the parent-tot playgroup, dozens of seniors are in the midst of their fitness class. An exhibit that explores our perceptions of disabilities is in the Exhibit Hall overlooking the turntable plaza and you can hear someone practising his French horn. And this is just whats going on in one hour on a Thursday morning. At night theres volleyball and basketball, karate, woodworking, language classes, arts festival premieres... the booklet outlining all of this autumns programming needs 64 pages to list the activities.
Its the mind and body coming together in one place, says communications coordinator Hanne Lene Dagleish. Its a wonderful reminder of how to live your live fully its not just your body that is keeping healthy, its your mind.
Unlike any other community centre in the city, the Roundhouse doubles as a performance and arts space. Its what gives the Roundhouse its slightly edgy feel.
During Pride arts festivities, the Roundhouse set aside a bathroom for transgenderss. The crane in the turntable plaza is rigged so aerial artists, who teach classes at the Roundhouse, can perform. Its also unlikely that any other community centre has women taking off their clothes as its major fundraiser. (See the story on Beerlesque.)
And the gallery/performance space is not simply a room in the building set aside for creative uses. Its hosted world premieres and top artists. It feels like a place youd have a really great show at, no matter who you are, says Dalgleish.
This arts focus is part of what makes the Roundhouse able to respond to the needs and aspirations of not only the neighbourhood but also arts groups throughout the city. Its about giving the community a place to have its voice heard and the arts is a great way to do that, Dalgleish says.
Although its not one of the six community centres taking the Parks Board to court over its decision to put every centre under its One Card system, the society that manages the Roundhouse does have concerns.
Each community centre is currently run by its own society, which raises money through memberships, but the building is owned by the city, which also provides the staffing.
At the end of the day, theyre our landlords and were their tenants and they could kick us out and run it themselves, says Craig Giles, a Crown Attorney who is the president of the Roundhouses society. (A case in point? The Parks Board says it will take control of the six rogue centres.)
He says that the Parks Boards plan for universal access to all centres is laudable, but so too is allowing each society to respond to its community. Membership fees help give the society flexibility. Last year, Roundhouse memberships brought in $30,000, which the society has control over and can spend based on its priorities, not the citys. One of the Roundhouses priorities?
Societies were created by local communities. Weve been running these centres in a way that community gets to be involved. If its just the Parks Board, youll have cookie cutter community centres, Giles says.
