Cedardale owners Ed and Zoe Veasey joined members of their family, staff and Mailloux Brothers Construction, on Monday, Nov. 20 to break ground on their new Haverhill gym. (WHAV News photographs)
Fear not, Merrimack Valley fitness buffs: A new and improved Cedardale is on its way. On Monday, eight months after a devastating fire ripped through the beloved Haverhill athletic facility, owners Ed and Zoe Veasey officially broke ground on the new gym.
“This is a new start and our first step in re-establishing ourselves. It’s a new beginning for Cedardale and we’ll be back better than ever,” Zoe Veasey said at the groundbreaking attended by members and employees. Haverhill City Councilor Joseph J. Bevilacqua, Beverly Donovan of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce and Michael Bevilacqua of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce also showed their support.
“On behalf of the city of Haverhill, we’re so proud of all the people here today. This is a destination and we appreciate all you do,” Councilor Bevilacqua told the Veasey family.
As Ed Veasey explained, it is Cedardale’s members who helped expedite the post-fire reconstruction. “This is really because of all of our members who said ‘Please rebuild what we all have lost.’ Because of all of you, that’s why we’re here today,” he said.
Cedardale Senior Manager Greg Herbert told WHAV the Veasey family has kept member experience at the forefront of the rebuilding process.
“This is a building that will be designed and built for what its purpose is. Our fitness center will be state of the art, from lighting to flooring and machinery,” he said. “The group exercise studios will be designed for what we’re using them for. The yoga studio, as an example, will give a different experience from what we had in the old club. Just the touches people will find will make it a better space than it was before.”
Methuen’s Mailloux Brothers Construction is handling the rebuild, with brothers Russ and Ron Mailloux at the helm. A January 2019 opening is planned.
The new complex will look familiar to members, with a few changes. Cedardale’s new facility will be built on two levels with the fitness center on the second floor. Four tennis courts from the original location survived the fire and will remain intact, Russ Mailloux said.
A casualty of the new design, said the contractor, is the elimination of racquetball courts.
However, it’s out with the old and in with the new. Ed and Zoe’s daughter, Ada Veasey McKenzie, looks forward to welcoming Cedardale members back to a 25-foot, four-lane pool, a heated therapy pool and an elevated indoor track.
“We watched the old Cedardale burn and in our minds was that we would be rebuilding. It’s very exciting to think we have a brand new, state of the art building coming—energy efficient and beautiful—after living in a 46-year-old building,” Veasey McKenzie told WHAV. “Once we got over the shock of the old Cedardale burning, we all set our sights on the new building and everything we could fit into it.”
Members can stay up to date on Cedardale construction via social media, the Veasey family said.