by Ken Anderson, chair – Park Tower’s Health Club membership has reached a record high of 347 members. By comparison, we had 265 members in March, 2016 before the renovations had started. This is an increase of 82 members or 30%.

The next part of the Health Club upgrade, which will have started by the time this issue of TowerTalk reaches readers, is the complete gutting and renovation of the locker rooms and public washrooms. This project is expected to take about seven to nine weeks to complete, during which time Club members using the pool will need to shower at home before coming to the pool.

The gutting phase will happen during the first seven to ten days, with access to other Health Club areas redirected through alternate entry doors. Please pay attention to temporary signage to find your way into the cardio room, weight room and pool. After gutting is finished, access to the club facilities will return to the usual patterns.

The upgraded locker rooms, available only to Club members by security fob, will include new showers, floor and ceiling tile, lighting and new saunas. Infrared saunas (JNH 3-person saunas) will be installed in both the men’s and women’s locker rooms. More information on the benefits of these new saunas can be found on the JNH and other sauna websites.

To allow more room for maneuvering and to make everything more ADA-friendly, openings will be widened and doors automated in the the public washrooms, showers and saunas.

The Club improvement project will continue with a replacement of the pool liner, requiring that the pool be closed for about four weeks. Work will start when parts have been received, which could be even before the locker room and public washrooms are finished.

The new pool liner will be PVC material, which is the latest technology for pool liners. The old fiberglass liner, with a painted surface and painted lane markings, had worn out and the paint had become badly chipped. The pool cleaning robot increased this chipping as it moved across the bottom of the pool. Using a liner made of PVC should eliminate this problem and reduce maintenance. The liner color and lane markings will be incorporated into the PVC liner and no painting will be needed. A longer life is expected.

The pool will become ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) compliant with the addition of pool stairs in the southeast corner of the pool. A Jacuzzi upgrade will not be included in this renovation project except for some exterior tile cleaning.

Health Club Committee meetings are open to residents. The next meeting date had not yet been set at the time this article was written but will probably be mid-July after the locker room renovations are completed. Meetings are posted in the Park Tower calendar and mentioned in management’s Friday email updates.

Club members are reminded to sign up for cardio machines at the attendant desk in the pool area. This procedure helps to avoid conflicts over machines, especially during hours of higher usage. You can phone the desk to sign up in advance or sign up personally at the time of your workout. Please make it a point to do this. Thanks!