Community Centre

The Community Centre is located at 48 Nanaimo Drive, overlooking Nanaimo Park. The Centre can be accessed by foot from Nanaimo Park.

The Centre has two main rooms, a small kitchen and a cloak room. The main room approximately 1000 square feet and the other room is a bit smaller. The total maximum occupancy is 60 people.

The centre has a security system and is monitored at all times.

Any resident of Ottawa over the age of 18 may rent the community centre. The rate is dependent on the type of group booking and the activity.

Community Association sponsored programs are the main users of the centre. If you are interested in organizing a potential community program that uses the community centre, please do contact us!

Any maintenance issues at the Community Centre (broken locks, cupboards, etc.) can be reported at the following numbers: dial 311 or at www.ottawa.ca

Requests for storage space and/or keys  should be referred by email to rental[at]qualicum.org and maintenance issues should be referred to president[at]qualicum.org.

The community centre phone number is 613-828-6232.

 

History of the original Community Centre
Establishing the Community Centre

The Community Centre was constructed in late 1995 at a cost of over $300,000. After an intensive fund-raising drive, the community association raised some $13,000 as their contribution to the project. The mural in the lobby of the Community Centre identifies many of the original contributors to this drive.

The Community Centre is attached to Maimonides School. The building occupied by Maimonides school was previously Graham Park Public School, the local primary public school. Before the Community Centre was built, the Association rented a classroom from Maimonides for its activities. This classroom was incorporated into the new Community Centre.

History of the New Community Centre
During the construction of the original community centre, oil was discovered.   The mortgage holder foreclosed on the school, and sold it to a company formed by some backers of the former Maimonides school.   The city was held 1% responsible for the clean-up and the former Maimonides school 99% by the Ontario Environment Ministry; however the city paid for it all as it was the only legal entity with money.    Unfortunately the oil could not be cleaned up under the school.

Relatively quickly the school physically deteriorated due to inattention from the landlord’s holding company.  A leaking roof finally  necessitated a long process involving the city and the CA ending in the city purchasing the property and redevelopment of the land under a community development corp.  As part of the process we managed to get the new community centre built at it’s current location.

Thanks to the Community Advisory board in the centre design:

Sue Wilson, Jeff Braddon, Scott Pegrum, Brett Caldwell, Steve Leahy, Lauria Blackwell

Kitchen and colour selection: Jill Dublin

 

 

The new community centre opened in January 2012