Olympi oss of face c gymnast ho ocal facilit J WO YEARS of training and thousands of dollars invested Py parents in the Olvnpie aspirations of their children could be lost if gvmnasts training in a focal Best-Ever program cannot tind a new gvm to replace their present Flicka gyin club facilities. Head oot tie focal Bestbever Provram for oysinasts Deon Peaches said Monday the 10 eyim- Nasts from around the province currently enrolled in the program will face “serious problems’ it a Permanent training facility can not be found within the neat few weeks. “Hf nothing can be found local- Iv, the girls would have to leave the Province (to train), and that would be a very sad move,” Peachey said, Best-Ever is a four-year program that was set up by the provincial government two years ago to train B.C. athletes in 431988 Olympic Games sports. FREE TRAINING North Vancouver’s Flicka gym club has provided free training fa- cilities for the Best-Ever gymnasts for the past two years, but an ex- pansion of the non-profit club’s 1987 gym programs in September will force Best-Ever gymnasts to share their gym time with Flicka gymnasts. Flicka president George Carroll Bs TIMOTHY RENSHAW News A ar said Flicka and Best-bever are not competing clubs or rivids in any way. but are. rather, two separate programs, He said Flickis and Best-Ever gymnasts could share the facility, but Best-kver had chosen to look elsewhere. But Peachey said while Flicka had been very good to the Best- Ever gymnasts, sharing the facilty was deemed, because of the intense training required for such high level gymnastics, to be ‘‘not good enough when you have 30 other gymnasts running around. They (the Best-Ever gymnasts) are going into a crucial year just prior to the Olympics.”* He, added that Best-Ever was aware as early as April 1986 that exclusive use of the Flicka facility would be over this year, but fin- ding a comparable local facility has been extremely difficult. B.C.’s Best-Ever gymnasts are coached by Czechoslovakian na- tional coach Sona Kobylakova. Peachey said the B.C. gov- SEIIODT puss abeur TU por cenfot troming costs, whale the remuainimie 30 per centoas pand for is patents at the wsyinnasts the PRAINING COSTS fhe program began with PS at the poosimee’s top gymnasts and has singe been winnowed down to 10. Included in the current group are Tracy Wilson. PS. who is cur- rently ranked eighth overall in Canada and finished first overall inthe Aug. 910 PE) Western Sum- mer Games; Heather Andrews, 15; and Ursula Trpin, 16, whe finished first and third respectively in the Canadian Open category at the 1987 national gymnastic champi- onships. Under a4 special program through West Vancouver’s Sentinel Secondary School, the gymnasts, some of whom have moved from as far as the Okanagan to train in North Vancouver with Best-Ever, attend school during the morning and train in the afternoon five to six days per week, 44%: hours per day. Mervyn Andres., Heather An- drews’s father, suid he moved his family to North Vancouver from Kelowna so that his daughter could train with the Best-Ever program. He estimated that he has in- vested approximately $40,000 in his daughter’s Best-Ever expenses 3 - Friday, September 4. 1987 - North Shore News efuls ies over the past te sears and sotf commutes too Kelowna to during the week “Thes (Beotebser evmuinastsa atte beyrmming the brevest vear of their Hees.” Andrews said Tbe whole Hest-Byer program) has been setup tooget them ready for the Olvme pis. Phes could lose all thes tee worked tor over this. 7 Work BIGGEST YEAR Peachey said) Best-Ever would make a presentauion to the North Vancouver School Board and re- quest use of the gymnasium at the William Lucas Continuing Educa- tion Centre. The program, he said, had ap- proached the Saga Gymnastics Club to make a combined pres- entation to the board. Saga spokesman said the partnership) would be mutually advantageous becuuse Best-Ever would raise the profile of the local non-profit club, while Saga, with close to 200 children enrolled in its various programs in North Shore, Whistler and Pemberton schools, would give Best-Ever a stronger bargaining lever. North Vancouver School District superintendent Leo Marshall said the board has not as yet been of- ficialiy contacted by the gym clubs. The board will have its first meeting Sept. 8. Rob Smestie REVITALIZATION PROJECT PROMISES MUCH Hopes high for Ambleside Village PRELIMINARY DESIGNS for the Ambleside Village Revitalization project reflect the Ambleside Village Business Association’s desire to not only create a more pleasant shopping space for local people, but also an exciting, cohesive location that will attract business from outside the area. Currently on display at the revitalization office off Marine Drive and 17th Street (in space donated by Safeway), tne concep- tual designs were unveiled Tuesday evening to an interested crowd of local business people. “When we're finished they'll be lining up to come here,’’ said the association’s president, Bill Irwin, Irwin expects the revitalization project to improve business, which is currently poor due to the ‘run down” character of the area. But Irwin was certain that Ambleside has the potential to be a better draw than Granville Island or Lonsdale Quay. “Tf everything works out, maybe we can get the Royal Hudson to stop here,’’ Irwin said. “We want to bring some coloi and movement to the area and welcome people,’’ said Maria Ferbey of Maria’s on Marine. Project landscape architect Don Vaughan (who coordinated the site landscape work at Expo) agreed that Ambleside possesses great potential. “There is a unique opportunity here. The village is surrounded by parks and waterfront that we have as yet to take advantage of,”’ Vaughan said. The conceptual designs thus in- clude plans to open out views from the streeet to the waterfront. At the 19th Street entrance to the village a pedestrian route to the water will provide one connection. Then at the 13th Street entrance, there are plans to straighten the angle of 13th to create a safer cor- ner and allow for more con- trollable park development. By MAUREEN CUR’ Contributing Writer “So the image as you arrive in Ambleside is that you are driving through a park,’’ Vaughan ex- plained. Vaughan also recommended widening the 13th Street intersec- tion to solve the frequent traffic jams that occur at the site. The business group also ratified plans to do 14th Street in in- terlocking pavers all the way from Marine to the waterfront. “Fourteenth is an extension of our image of park into village with the beach connection,'’ Vaughan said. Vaughan suggested 14th as the perfect location of an event that might be named Ambleside Land- ing Days. Clyde Avenue is also slated to be covered entirely in pavers. Angling off of Marine, it’s a street that could be blocked off for festival and flea markets. “This could become a special area at special times of the year,” Vaughan explained. Suzanne Foster, of the Azalea boutique, said she particularly lik- ed the idea of creating a consistent look throughout Ambleside with paving, trees, garbage receptacles, and the like. The business people all seemed concerned with tailoring the area to the needs of the local popula- tion, the majority of whom are elderly and single. Sidewalks done in interlocking pavers, which create difficulties for high heels and wheelchairs, were rejected in Weather: Friday, mainly sunny. Highs near 24°C. Saturday, mostly sunny. Highs near 22° C. INDEX Classified Ads Goug Coliins Editorial Page Entertainment Horoscope Bob Hunter Lifestyles Mailbox TV Listings What's Going On.....17 NEWS photo Cindy Bellamy PROJECT LANDSCAPE architect Don Vaughan (left) and West Vancouver mayor Don Lanskail discuss the proposed revitalization project of the Ambieside Village area at < recent meeting. favor of a wide band of concrete blocks with decorative granite bands on the sides. More benches (about 60) will be provided for those who need to rest, and lights will be brought down to the pedestrian Jevel. “We want to create an al- mosphere that this is a safe place for the elderly to walk around in,” commented Irwin. Mayor Don Lanskail, who at- tended the public meeting Tues- day, congratulated the Ambleside group on ‘‘a very imaginative piece of work.”’ ‘The initiative has to come from the business community and in do- ing so I can assure you, you will have the full support of council,” Lanskail added. Irwin also stressed that the pro- ject is not being run by anyone in particular, but is a ‘‘complete community effort."’ “Tt has been challenging to