Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe visited the Ray Friel Recreation Complex last week to get a firsthand look at the more than $2.5 million in investments that are being made in upgrading and retrofitting the facility.

Orléans North-Cumberland city councillor Matt Luloff, whose constituency office is in the same building, hosted the Mayor’s visit as the pair toured the complex with Ray Friel manager Jill Young.

The $2.5 million in funding includes $450,000 that was allocated in 2022 to improve the wheelchair accessibility at the customer service counter. Another $400,000 was allocated in the 2023 budget to upgrade the pool change rooms for accessibility. That work was begun this year and is expected to be completed by June 30.

A further $495,000 was allocated in the 2024 budget for renewal work including the replacement of the wave system for the pool and compressors on refrigeration skids in the arenas.

If all that wasn’t enough, the City has earmarked $1.2 million in the 2025 for work to be done over the next two years to replace circulation pumps and other assets used to for the ice pads and for the rehabilitation of the sprinkler system.

During his visit, Mayor Sutcliffe spoke about the importance of maintaining the city’s existing recreational facilities such as the Ray Friel Complex and the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Centre so that resi-dents can enjoy them for years to come.

“I think with a rapidly growing population in Orléans, it’s really important that we have the facilities to serve the community and that we have up-to-date facilities, so I’m really excited to see the work that’s going here as a result of our budget decisions,” said the Mayor.

“For families having great recreational facilities is critically important and to have some place to bring their kids for hockey or for other sports is really, really important so this is a priority for us.”

As someone who worked at the Ray Friel Recreational Complex as a lifeguard many years ago, Luloff has a special place in his heart for the facility.

He began lobbying for improvements to the building shortly after he was first elected to council in 2018. A fact that he is immensely proud of.

“This is something that is near and dear to my heart and we need to ensure that our rec conplex is being taken care of,” said Luloff.

He is particularly proud of the work that’s been done and is continuing to be done to make the Ray Friel Complex more accessible to residents in the east end.

“One of the first things we did was to make the front desk more accessible and that’s incredibly important to make it more welcoming to all.”

Luloff is also proud of the fact that Faces magazine has recognized the Ray Friel Complex as the best recreational facility in the city for the past two years.