An Oct. 31 fire that completely destroyed the North Valley Gymnastics building in Vernon has officially been labeled suspicious, the City of Vernon confirmed in a statement on Tuesday evening.
“After a comprehensive fire investigation, the fire has been deemed suspicious and the file has been handed over to the RCMP for further investigation,” the city said in a statement.
Since the fire, both police and fire officials have been investing the cause of the early morning blaze that left the non-profit gymnastics club’s space in ashes.
“We have heard a lot of stories in the last several days about how this loss has impacted many people in the community,” said Vernon Fire Chief David Lind in a statement.
“Our thoughts continue to be with those who are part of the gymnastics club or enjoyed using the facility. Although this feels like a great loss for many, it has also been encouraging to see how community members have started to rally together and keep moving forward with their love for the sport.”
The fire is especially painful for the North Valley Gymnastics Society, which owned and operated the facility, because of the amount of effort that went into fundraising to buy and renovate the building.
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The group’s competitive members are now travelling to Kelowna to train, and the society is actively working on finding an alternate location that meets the height and size requirements needed for the sport.
The club, which had more than 500 members, is hoping to reopen in a new temporary spot in late winter or early spring.
The society has also launched a fundraiser to help with costs as it looks for a new temporary location, deals with the disruption to its operations, and works towards eventually rebuilding.
While the building itself was covered by insurance, the group is soliciting donations to help secure a temporary facility and cover other costs like staff wages.
Details of how to donate are available on the group’s website and social media accounts.
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