The Chapters of Indoor Golf

Trivia: “Why was Ed Oliver disqualified from the 1940 U.S. Open?” Answer below.

We’ve had a lot of great news lately at Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. We’re making progress on many fronts. This includes finalizing our required capital, welcoming more members, building a strong team, and the list goes on. Parmasters HQ is also close to breakthroughs on many different fronts, which only means great things for our members, other patrons and our business.

I can’t recall if I’ve blogged about this topic before. So if this is a repeat, my apologies. I’m sure someone will point out my memory lapse. I’m speaking, or typing rather, about an analogy I use to describe what we bring to indoor golf. Parmasters is to indoor golf, what Chapters is to bookstores. Let me explain.

Before Chapters arrived on the Canadian retail scene, a bookstore consisted of a few thousand square feet, with shelves and books jammed in everywhere. Stores were small and designed to display and ultimately sell books. That was it. Then Chapters changed everything. They opened with some 10,000 square feet of book heaven! There were couches and chairs, washrooms, often a Starbucks coffee shop, gift ideas, and the list went on and on.

Patrons visited the old bookstores when they wanted to buy a book. Patrons visit Chapters when they feel like immersing the book culture/lifestyle. The older stores were designed to facilitate transactions. Chapters was designed to grow a culture, and ultimately facilitate many more transactions!

Before Parmasters, indoor golf consisted of a few simulators, a bar, perhaps a small putting surface and washrooms. Parmasters is changing all of that. We include lounge seating, an incredible cafe, a massive best-of-in-the-world indoor short game area, often a fitness center, locker rooms, meeting rooms, club repair and storage, Wi-Fi Internet access throughout, and much, much more.

Patrons visited the older indoor golf experiences to play golf on the simulators and have a beverage. Patrons visit Parmasters to immerse in the golf culture/lifestyle. The older indoor golf centres were designed to facilitate transactions – time on a simulator. Parmasters is designed to grow the golf culture, to create a club where members feel at home, to be an incredible entry point to the game, to be a major hub for the golf industry wherever we open! Parmasters, quite simply, brings Better Golf, More Fun, Guaranteed.

And the answer: “He was in a rush to complete his round before a storm set in, so he teed off before his tee time and was consequently disqualified. Oliver would have tied for first if it weren’t for his mistake.”

Which Wolf Do You Feed?

Trivia: “Which of the four major championships is held at the same course each year? A) The Masters B) U.S. Open C) British Open D) PGA Championship” This one is easy! And of course, the “British Open” should really be presented for what it is, “The Open Championship”. Answer below.

It’s been another crazy and busy day at Parmasters KW. We made some good progress on many fronts. By the end of the day, as always, I was quite tired. And I should likely be in bed, but just wanted to share a quick story/lesson/legend that was related to me today.

I meet each week, generally on Wednesdays, with one of our shareholders. I asked for his time because it’s clear to me that he’s one of the most intelligent, no-nonsense and results-oriented business minds that I know. The meetings are part brainstorming, part mentoring, part refocusing and sometimes I get told I’m wrong. It’s all good.

Today this old, apparently Cherokee, legend came up.


An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

- Excerpted from the First People website, www.firstpeople.us, found here.


This evening I had a wonderful time with a great friend and her son. I enjoyed stories about hockey, skating, video games, his many friends, his teacher, his school and the list goes on and on. He’s a wonderful young lad, so full of life. It was a perfect and relaxing evening to end a long, hard day.


And just a few moments ago I walked past a photograph of my father. I still can’t believe he’s gone. There’s not a day that passes that I don’t think of him. Tonight the thought occurred that my father is likely chuckling just a little, at my expense, up in heaven. He told me, as I purchased the Parmasters franchise rights, that I was about to lose one of my favourite, relaxing, de-stressing activities. Golf!

I told him he was crazy, of course. I mean, I was entering the golf business. Of course I would golf more, or at least just as much. I certainly wouldn’t golf less than I did before I entered the industry. But, time has proven my father to be correct! I’ve golfed just a handful of times this year, including one and only one full, 18-hole round. I’ve practiced even less!

I miss my father more than words can describe. And as every day since his death passes, I gain increased understanding that he was a great man. And yes, he was right about my golf game!


Soon time to turn in. Choose your wolf carefully. My father did.


And the answer: “A) The Masters has been held at the Augusta National Golf Club since its inception in 1934.”

Run Forrest, Run

Trivia: “How many total major championships did Bobby Jones win from 1923 until his retirement at age 28 in 1930? A) 7 B) 9 C) 11 D) 13” Answer below.

It was a very busy weekend, but I still managed to rest up for the week ahead. Well, if you count six hours of sleep as “resting up”.

My youngest had a birthday party and sleepover on Friday evening. And I was out Friday evening also and had a truly fantastic time. Saturday morning we hosted another Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo Preview Event and then I picked up my youngest from his sleepover – he had way too much fun and way too little sleep! Saturday afternoon was spent working mostly, and then in the evening my eldest had his first hockey game of the season. They won 5-2 and he head at least one assist.

Sunday morning dawned to another 5 km charity run with a very close friend. This run, the CIBC Run for the Cure, is more about raising money than competition, so we weren’t timed. But, by my watch, we shaved close to two minutes off of our time at the previous run a couple of weeks ago. Good stuff!

Sunday afternoon was mostly working and hanging out with my boys.

Well, it’s time to get back at it. This will be a busy week, as are most, or actually, all.

And the answer: “D) 13. This ranks second only to Jack Nicklaus’s 20 major wins (including two amateurs), which occurred over a span of 27 years.”

New Landlord

We have a new landlord at Market Square. The article from The Record is included below, and can also be found here.

We’re excited about this new relationship. Working with Cora has been wonderful. And, in fact, we’ll continue to work with the same individuals. They simply now work for a different company. At the same time we fully expect that Realex will bring a few new ideas and innovations to all of the properties, including Market Square.

Realex completes purchase of Cora assets

TheRecord.com - Business
RECORD STAFF
WATERLOO REGION

Realex Properties Corp. has completed its $142-million purchase of six office buildings in Kitchener and Waterloo from the Cora Group.

Realex purchased five buildings in downtown Kitchener: Market Square at 25 Frederick St.; The Galleria at Frederick and Weber streets; 22 Frederick St.; Commerce House at 50 Queen St. N.; and 235 King St. E.; as well as the Accelerator Centre building in the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park.

The properties comprise 932,000 square feet of rentable area and 2,000 parking spaces.

Realex, which unveiled the deal in June, paid for the properties with cash, shares, assumption of debt and vendor take-back mortgages.

The Calgary company also owns all or part of 17 office and industrial buildings in Alberta and British Columbia.

Cora, which still owns several properties in Waterloo Region and other parts of Ontario, has moved its offices from The Galleria building to 1305 Victoria St. N.

Cora founder Manfred Conrad has joined Realex's board of directors. His son, Adrian, is now Realex vice-president for southwestern Ontario.

Don’t Check Your Ego at the Door!

Trivia: “Where was [2008 FedEx Cup Champion] Vijay Singh born? A) The United States B) Fiji C) India D) Malaysia” Answer below.

You can now find us on Facebook here!

The following article comes from the Globe and Mail. You can find it online here.

It’s interesting. The author, Curtis Gillespie, advocates taking more golf lessons and being sure to park your ego at the door – or greenside – when you do so. The insinuation is of course that golf instruction can be hard on the ego. Perhaps even demeaning and/or depressing.

That’s because almost all golf instruction follows the error correction model. The instructor takes a good look at your golf swing and then eagerly pronounces all that is wrong with said swing. He/she points out the many flaws and errors in your swing before eventually advising you how to swing correctly.

We take a different approach at Parmasters Golf Training Centers. We teach you a brand new swing, from the ground up. We call it Straight-Line Golf. We keep nothing from your past swing. There are no errors and thus no correction. We use highly effective, proven teaching techniques such that each client learns Straight-Line Golf efficiently and effectively.

Since there are no errors, our teaching methods build you up rather than demeaning or depressing. We build up your ego, your golf ego, rather than causing it damage.

Having learned Straight-Line Golf, Parmasters clients feel they can effectively tackle any golf course on the face of this planet. And they’re correct!


SEE A PRO AND CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR
Golf magazines won't help your swing but a good teacher might - if you're the right kind of student

CURTIS GILLESPIE
From Friday's Globe and Mail
September 26, 2008 at 9:21 AM EDT

There aren't many things I can imagine paying $200 an hour for, and the few that I can are not ones I'm likely to admit to in public. However, there is something I would pay that kind of money for that I'll acknowledge with no shame.

It involves a level of enforced submission, it's true, though I probably deserve it. And yes, it encourages the addict in all of us. But standing in the heat with my master's hand gripping my forearm, his voice stern in its counsel, I realized that this was a weakness I ought to have made peace with long ago.

Suspend your lurid fantasies, because I'm referring to a golf lesson.

Though I'd had a group lesson as a junior and the odd conversation with a pro here and there over the years, I'd never had the kind of attention I received on a recent trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., where I met with Bill Forrest, born and raised in Ontario, but now one of America's best teachers (in 2006 he was named Teacher of the Year by the PGA of America).

He has taught everyone from foreign royalty to tour pros to Kevin Costner, but for one hour his only concern - or perhaps it's more accurate to say the source of his anguish - was my poor stray dog of a golf swing. It was an hour about me.

It was a solipsistic, decadent, narcissistic hour, unrelated to anything of any real importance or value.

I highly recommend it.

Why so few of us take proper instruction is a mystery, since the vast majority of us could really use it (and winter, indoors, is a perfect time for it, since we can focus on form rather than results). Certainly, it doesn't have to cost $200 an hour; most golf instruction is considerably less than that (few teachers are as experienced as Mr. Forrest).

Perhaps we don't pursue real teachers because every golf publication now focuses on the latest theory, the latest tip, the latest trend that's going to "unlock" our potential and effortlessly transform us into scratch handicaps.

Why pay all that money for a live teacher, part of us must think, when I can read a magazine and get better? Answer: Because you won't get better.

Golf magazines will go into mind-numbing detail about the Stack and Tilt swing, the Two Piece Takeaway, the X-Factor Swing, and any of the other thousands of swing theories floating around out there.

A country clubber unsheathing his new Stack and Tilt swing developed on what he's read in a magazine is like a mountain climber heading up Everest after reading a hiking guide; lives could be at risk.

You need a sherpa to guide you through the hazards.

Another factor in why we may not pursue instruction is that some of us sense, or already know, that we are less-than-perfect students.

While we chatted during my lesson, Mr. Forrest told me that he's noticed a few patterns over the decades he's been teaching: There are good students and bad students, he says.

Good students let down their defences, they listen and then they practise.

Bad students are usually men, usually older, usually successful in business and have about a 12 handicap.

Why is this the prototypical bad student?

"Because most men who are pretty fair players, a 12 handicap, for instance, aren't willing to get five shots worse at the start to get 10 shots better in the long run; because the male ego is resistant to instruction; and because successful people aren't used to being told what to do."

The best student, says Mr. Forrest, is the female beginner. "They improve in a hurry because they're so grateful to get some expertise, and because they actually listen to what you're telling them. They don't care if they aren't going to be tour pros."

Men, conversely, sometimes avoid instruction precisely because we need it, because it would be embarrassing to stand in front of a teacher and showcase that spasm that calls itself a golf swing. We shouldn't care; the world is full of hideous golf swings. David Feherty once likened the swing of world-class golfer Jim Furyk to "an octopus falling out of a tree." In any case, as Bruce Grierson points out in his fine book U-Turn, there is an old Turkish proverb that says, "No matter how far down the wrong road you have travelled, it is never too late to turn around."

Time is also a factor. If you have any of the following - children, spouse, job, bills, other hobbies, a life - the likelihood is that a scratch handicap will elude you. But being a little better wouldn't hurt, would it? Most of us would say we could use a little more Zen-like calm in our lives, but not many of us are running off to monasteries to enroll in two-week silent retreats.

Golf can be terrific fun even if you never manage to shoot 68. Keeping the ball in play, hitting the odd good shot, scoring at a level that's at least going to save you from embarrassment should you find yourself in a company tournament - all these things are quite achievable, provided you get the right kind of instruction, focusing on fundamentals.

Check your male ego - or your male - at the door. Find an instructor to teach you a decent grip, proper aim and alignment, a sense of rhythm, and you're ready to play.

Too many of us get our tips from some guy on the range, or we imitate our ill-equipped partners, or we mess ourselves up with every goofy swing theory in the latest golf magazine.

If that's how you learned the game, well, let that be a lesson.

Curtis Gillespie is the author of Playing Through: A Year of Life and Links along the Scottish Coast. His most recent book is the novel Crown Shyness.


And the answer: “B) Fiji”

The Downtown Card

Trivia: “Who was the first known female golfer?” Answer below.

It’s been another busy week. We’ve welcomed many new members – Welcome! – made progress on budgeting and space planning, welcomed a returning team member back, issued newsletters to members and future members, and signed up new community partners.

Our community partners are businesses throughout the community with whom we partner. I guess that’s why we call them “community partners”. They display our marketing literature in their place of business, and we do the same with their literature in our center. We also note them on our website, but we’re still working on that.

Our community partners also offer some sort of discount or incentive to our members, thus increasing the value of your Parmasters membership!

This past week also saw the launch of the new Downtown Card by the Kitchener Downtown Business Association! Businesses noted on the card offer some sort of incentive to people carrying and presenting the card. We offer 15% off of food and beverage from our Links Golf Cafe – when it opens – and the first month free with any membership.

And the answer: “Mary, Queen of Scots, who raised more than a few eyebrows when she was seen playing golf shortly after her husband’s death in 1567.”

Who knew?

Sunday 5km Race and Trivia

The run on Sunday went well. My results weren’t very impressive, but I did enjoy it. You can find our results here.

I’m going starting a new blog tradition. Or maybe it should be termed a “habit”. I’m not sure. Regardless, a wonderful friend gave me a book titled “The Ultimate PGA Tour Book of Trivia”. It’s brimming with interesting trivia, in the form of questions and answers. Most blog entries will now include one such question and answer. (I will add a permanent citation to my main blog page shortly.) Here we go.

“Many early sports, such as 15th century “Kolven” of Holland and “Chole” of Belgium, greatly resembled the game of golf. But what intrinsic part of the game was missing, keeping them from being considered early forms of the sport? A) A finishing point B) Clubs C) The ball D) The hole” Answer below.

The rest of the weekend is just a blur. Lots of work accomplished, children going here there and everywhere to activities, friends coming over, etc. And of course I caught as much of the Ryder Cup matches as I could. The golf was fantastic, as expected.

Yesterday we took delivery of a few banners from Mizuno. We sell custom-fitted Mizuno golf clubs. No other brands, and only custom-fitted. The banners will allow us to pretty-up our Temporary Event Center...

... Where we’ll be hosting another Preview Event this evening.

Yesterday we also welcomed back our first team member. Mike will focus on sending periodic newsletters to our members and future members, as well as partnering up with local golf courses.

The answer: “D) The hole. Both games, and many other similar ones, saw players hit balls around the landscape, but none involved dropping the ball below ground.”

Busy Weekend

I'm blogging from my son's archery lesson. They're just covering the basics during this first lesson. This is his second time taking archery lessons, so it's mostly review. I just hope they don't start shooting in this direction. So if this entry ends abruptly...

It's going to be a busy weekend. I had a great workout last night, but also discovered, as I lifted a few weights in my basement, that my dishwasher has sprung a leak. Happily I brought my tool box home yesterday. It had been at our Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo Temporary Event Center. I'll work on the dishwasher later today.

Hockey starts this weekend - early Sunday afternoon - for my other son. So we'll be getting skates sharpened on the way home from this lesson.

And the future archery expert has a sleep-over birthday party tonight. I'll retrieve him Sunday around noon.

Sunday morning I'll be competing in a 5 km charity run along with a close friend. I think maybe my blog entry a week or two ago prompted her to suggest this run. I'm really looking forward to it. I'd like us to do a lot more of these, and also work our way up to 10 km events. Early to bed tonight!

And of course, the Ryder Cup matches are on this weekend! The Golf Channel is providing unbelievable coverage. It's amazing how they come up with different angles and sidebar stories to explore. As a Canadian there's maybe not a lot of drama, as we aren't part of the matches. But the golf tends to be very, very good. And the team dynamics and strategies are something seen rarely in golf. Fun to watch!

And lastly, but very importantly, I have all kinds of work to do this weekend. Chris, one of our team members, has just completed another Preview Event. Since virtually everyone that attends sees the incredible value and purchases a membership, I assume we have welcomed a few more members to Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. Welcome!

Time now to watch some archery, and to flip through a book given me by my 5 km run mate, "The Ultimate PGA Tour Book of Trivia". Many excerpts will make their way into this blog in the future.

A Very Central Location

It’s just after 6:00pm at our Temporary Event Center here in downtown Kitchener, and all is well. We’re just gearing up for another Preview Event.

We’re seeing the Parmasters KW buzz continue to grow and grow! It’s a real treat to see months, or actually YEARs of effort finally coming to fruition. Everyone is enthusiastic, supportive and eagerly anticipating our grand opening this winter! And we’ve yet to really kick our marketing efforts into gear.

A friend attended the Inspiring Women “The Experience” conference today and apparently had a great time! It was quite a treat, I’m told, to meet royalty!

I, of course, did not meet royalty today. But I did meet with several equally interesting individuals, making progress on several fronts. And there were countless phone calls and meetings booked well into the future.

When we selected Market Square (at the corner of King and Frederick Streets in downtown Kitchener) as our location, and signed that 20-year lease, we knew it was a very central and highly accessible location. Now, as we’ve opened our Temporary Event Center here, and this is my office, I’m even more amazed at how perfect this location is! I attend meetings all over Kitchener and Waterloo, and it’s always a quick and easy trip.

Well, back at it for now. Our guests will arrive shortly.

Running, Football, Golf, Etc.

It’s been a fairly productive day. We hosted yet another Preview Event at our Temporary Event Center at 10:00am and it’s been fairly busy since. I picked up some supplies at a local Staples and ran a few other errands, followed by some housework and tidying of my car (which had been badly neglected), and then more office work.

I also managed to squeak in a short (5 kms) run (I should probably use the term “jog”, but “run” sounds so more athletic!) this evening. It has rained most of the day, and actually really started to pour several times during the run. Between that and splashing through dozens of puddles, my time wasn’t great.

I haven’t run much lately. Just once or twice this summer really. I got out to RIM Park with a friend for a warm Sunday morning run a few weeks ago. I felt bad that I was holding her back. We ran in several 5 km charity events last summer, but have not tackled any thus far this year. I think she figures I’m too slow!

This evening I’m sitting in my family room with some golf and football on the television, and lots of reading and more work to do. Edmonton just took down Hamilton in a close CFL tilt! We’ll see how much more work I’m able to complete. Tomorrow will start with some golf practice, as my game is in terrible shape.

FREE Short Game Area Membership

These are exciting times at Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo!

We’ve welcomed another new team member. Chris Robson is currently hosting a Membership Preview Event, even as I type. I’m seated off to the side, working away, but obviously taking a break to blog at the moment.

Attendance at our Membership Preview Events has been growing steadily. Chris has done a great job handling all of the inbound calls and helping interested parties book into one of the Events.

We’ve also recently announced two new and very exciting membership types!
- FREE Short Game Area Membership
- Junior Membership
You can learn more here.

And we issued the following press release earlier this week!

Here’s the release:

Local Golf Training Center Raising $50,000 for Charity

Play golf for free! And support a great charity! While it may sound too good to be true, Kitchener-Waterloo’s first year-round, indoor golf training center – called Parmasters and slated to open this coming winter – plans to raise $50,000 for its cause, Right To Play, while offering free golf!

Right To Play is an athlete-driven humanitarian organization that uses specially designed sport and play programs to encourage the healthy physical, social and emotional development of the world’s most disadvantaged children and their communities.

Right To Play works closely with UNHCR, UNICEF, CARE and the RED CROSS bringing sport and play programs to children in developing countries. World athlete ambassadors include Wayne Gretzky, Donovan Bailey, Lance Armstrong, Steve Young, Marnie McBean and hundreds of others.

Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo offers the Free Short Game Area Membership to all local golfers. A minimum $20 donation to Right To Play is suggested, but not required. Parmasters plans to register 2,500 Free Short Game Area Members at its Market Square location in downtown Kitchener.

The Free Short Game Area Membership will allow access to the 3,000 sq ft. short game training area in the center that includes putting on an incredibly realistic undulating putting surface from Southwest Greens, as well as chipping and bunker play.

Flexible hours and climate-controlled indoor facilities allow golfers of all levels to gather at Parmasters to enjoy the ultimate golf training and practice centre. The rest of the facility at Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo will feature Long Game Practice Bays with a unique ball-return system; golf simulators featuring world-class courses, a retail shop for equipment and golf apparel; and a training events room that can be rented for corporate functions and family birthday parties. And the on-site Links Golf Café, offering gourmet organic coffee and clubhouse fare, as well as wireless Internet service, will be convenient for Parmasters’ members, as well as local walk-in customers and businesses.

“Right To Play is a fantastic organization doing great work on a global scale!” notes Stephen Southern, President, Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. “We hope golfers and future golfers alike will take advantage of this free lifetime membership opportunity!”

Golfers are encouraged to contact Parmasters by calling 519-578-0303, or writing to kwinfo@parmastersgolf.com, or visiting them online at www.parmastersgolf.com/kitchener-waterloo.

Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo: www.parmastersgolf.com/kitchener-waterloo
Right To Play: www.righttoplay.com

Membership Preview Events

We’ve held a few Membership Preview Events thus far and have been very happy with the response. These events run three times each week, providing future members the opportunity to consider membership.

Each Membership Preview Event consists of a brief, 40-45 minute presentation, followed by question and answer. During the presentation we convey a wealth of information about Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. We also, of course, describe the many features and benefits that flow to members of Parmasters KW.

We offer many membership options including weekday-only, anytime we’re open, family memberships and corporate memberships. This variety allows future members to choose the path that’s best for them.

Our Membership Preview Events run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, every week, at 7:00pm, and also on Saturday mornings at 10:00am.

If you love golf, why not join the club? Membership does have its rewards! (Sorry Amex!) You can reach the office at 519-578-0303, or drop us an email at kwinfo at parmasters golf dot com, or simply register via our website at www.parmastersgolf.com/kitchener-waterloo.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Another New Team Member

I can’t believe how quickly July has disappeared. We had some wonderful times at Parmasters KW during July, and made a lot of progress. But I remain continually amazed at how quickly time passes.

We have another new team member starting today. Andrew Parsley will lead various marketing initiatives and work alongside Mike to drive our Membership Preview Events.

I’ve attempted to get a little more sleep lately. I find myself always tempted to burn the candle at both ends, as they say. I realized recently that I was doing so again, and have intended and realized a little more sleep lately. It’s a constant battle, with so much to do, and a passion to accomplish the work.

For now, I must get down to the office and begin the brainwashing of Andrew (insert sinister laugh here!)... er ... I mean, begin training and educating Andrew on the ways of Parmasters.

Vacations

Mike hosted another Charter Membership Preview Event for us last night. We had several future members out, most of who became members last night. Welcome aboard! It’s a wonderful time at Parmasters KW!

I stumbled across a blog post from the Indianapolis-Noblesville area in Indiana, USA. More specifically, the blogger recently attended an event hosted at Parmasters Noblesville and had some raving comments. You can find the post here.

It’s a busy week this week, but also a time for reflection. Summer is here in full bloom. People are vacationing, travelling, and spending quality time with those they love. It’s a time to reflect on what we truly want out of life, and to ensure that each day takes us one step closer to that most worthy ideal.

For now, it’s also a time to get back to work. I’ll leave you with a quote.

We must not hope to be mowers,
And to gather the ripe gold ears,
Unless we have first been sowers
And watered the furrows with tears.
It is not just as we take it,
This mystical world of ours,
Life's field will yield as we make it
A harvest of thorns or of flowers.
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Membership Preview Events Commence

It’s been another busy and exciting week here at Parmasters KW. We held our first Membership Preview Event on Thursday evening and welcomed our very first Charter Member!

As noted previously on this blog, we’ll cap our Charter Memberships at 750, and then will welcome an additional 750 Memberships after our grand opening.

Charter Members are those that join our membership prior to our grand opening. We offer special incentives to thank Charter Members for joining prior to our opening.

So, with our first Charter Member in place, we have only 749 Charter Memberships available!

We’re also about to start signing up Community Partners. These are local businesses that offer a special discount/deal to Parmasters KW members. Thus, your Parmasters Member Card is actually also a very significant and well-recognized discount card!

These are exciting times for our current and future members, and for Parmasters KW! For now, I’ll get back at it!

More Parking For The Kitchener Core

We’ve had even more good news for the Kitchener core, with the announcement that the Benton and Charles Streets parking garage will proceed. The location of this parking facility will see employees of the new courthouse walking right past/through Market Square. That’s good news for Parmasters KW as well!

This article is taken from the Waterloo Region Record.

Long-stalled parking garage plan gains speed

Terry Pender
RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER
City councillors are moving quickly to build a 500-spot parking garage at Charles and Benton streets in the downtown.

And all taxpayers -- not just drivers -- will pay for the $15-million garage, now that council has rejected setting up a parking authority to help with the financing.

To speed things along, councillors waived the requirement to seek competitive proposals before choosing a consultant on the project. The consultant has already been paid about $400,000.

The city will borrow $9 million to pay for the garage, which is to have shops at ground level. When interest payments are included, the city's share of the cost rises to $15 million.

The province will kick in $6 million, an inducement that prompted the city to revive dormant plans for a parking garage on that corner.

Plans for the garage at Benton and Charles surfaced after the province announced it will build a 340,000-square-foot courthouse on the block bounded by Scott, Weber, Frederick and Duke streets. It will need 690 parking spaces.

Coun. John Gazzola proposed establishing a parking authority, with the idea of using parking revenue to pay for parking facilities.

"And if we did that, then the users would have to pay for it, and it wouldn't impact the taxpayers," Gazzola said to council recently.

"On one side of our mouths, we are arguing about the environment and how we have to get people out of their cars, and then we are building parking garages for them," Gazzola said.

Mayor Carl Zehr said he, too, would like to see a parking authority. But parking rates are not high enough to bring in the kind of revenue that could support parking operations, he said.

"It has to make financial sense so that it has a reasonable chance of standing on its own," Zehr said.

Coun. Berry Vrbanovic said it doesn't make sense to create a parking authority that would need tax dollars anyway.

The city plans to call for construction bids as soon as possible and hopes work on the garage will begin in November.

Kitchener parking operations have long been heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Parking operations were budgeted in 2007 for a deficit of $1.8 million.

The deficit would increase if council agreed to provide more free parking in the core, which some downtown merchants are now lobbying for.

The province plans to build 290 parking spaces as part of the courthouse plan and is counting on the city to provide the other 400 spaces. City staff say the province could move the courthouse to another municipality if Kitchener doesn't agree.

Construction of the courthouse will start in late 2009 or early 2010. The city aims to have the new parking garage open by November 2009.

The garage at Charles and Benton streets is not the only one on the books.

The city also plans to pay $8.75 million for 250 public spaces on the first level of an underground parking garage on Centre Block, which is next to City Hall. But many of those spaces could be occupied by the faculty and students at the nearby Wilfrid Laurier University graduate school of social work. To attract the school to the core, the city agreed to provide 175 parking spaces for the faculty and students at the subsidized price of $20 a month per space.

The garage at Benton and Charles will be built with no public consultations, something Mark Garner, head of the Kitchener Downtown Business Association, doesn't like.

"We should have been in the loop and communicated with when this was going on," Garner said.

Downtown merchants believe there is a shortage of parking that has to be solved, he said.

The garages at Benton and Charles and on Centre Block should look after those concerns, he said.

Now that councillors have approved those two garages, there is a pressing need for a debate about long-term plans for parking and transportation downtown, Garner said.

"I always thought it would be great to have King Street as an entire, I wouldn't say like the Red Mile in Calgary, but a closed-off street where it's just walking and cafés."

Critics who see adding parking to downtowns as a waste of resources weren't impressed with Kitchener's plans.

"The future is not going to be about car storage," said James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere and a board member of the non-profit Project for Public Spaces.

Cynthia Nitkin, also of Project for Public Spaces, who has spoken in Waterloo Region, suggested a parking problem is a healthy sign.

"It means people want to stop and shop."

But parking shortages are often just a perception, not a reality, she said. In fact, Kitchener's consultants say about 20 per cent of the public parking spaces downtown are empty at the busiest times of the day.

Instead of building parking garages or providing more free parking on the public's dime, the city and downtown merchants should worry more about product selection, marketing, displays, organizing festivals and other programming for public spaces, Nitkin said.

In Canada, Calgary hasn't built a parking garage in the core in more than 25 years. Parkades were built around the downtown, and people can ride the light rail for free in the core.

"Once you start tipping away from the car, a lot of interesting things happen," Nitkin said.

tpender@therecord.com


BENTON AND CHARLES

For 45 years, the land is a surface lot with 81 spaces -- 21 monthly, 60 hourly.

In 2002, city seeks bids for construction of a 525-space, five-storey parking garage on the site. The estimated cost is $8.1 million, and when the lowest tender comes in at $12.4 million, the project is shelved.

In 2003, Kitchener calls for expressions of interest in building the garage with city help. City offers to provide $3 million to $4 million, waive development and permit fees, and co-ordinate parking rates at city-owned lots. No takers.

In June 2008, the province announces it will build a new courthouse downtown if the city provides 400 parking spaces.

June 2008, the city announces a parking garage will go up at Benton and Charles. Public hearings, normally required for downtown projects of that size, will not be held.

Dad Was Right, Again

Yesterday was Canada Day, of course. The first day of the 7th month of the year. Some might call it the midway point in the year. And yet, it marked my first round of golf this season.

In fact, we didn’t even play a full round, but rather just 9 holes plus 2 additional holes for a little more fun. I played with my two sons.

Afterwards we grabbed some pizza and attended the University of Waterloo fireworks display.

I know my Father is currently laughing up in Heaven. He told me a long time ago that if I went into the golf business, I would end up golfing a lot less. He was concerned because, at that time, golf was really my only outlet to get away from the stress of the daily grind. I told him he was crazy, of course. And once again, it turns out he was right.

Calgary Firm Buys Market Square

The good news has been flowing recently for the Kitchener downtown core! We’re struggling to keep up with the news flow and bring it to your attention. This article came out on Thursday of last week, published in the Waterloo Region Record.

Please note, this is great news for the Kitchener core and for Parmasters KW. Realex will bring new energy and vitality, as noted in our previous blog entry, to both the downtown core and to Market Square. Through the due diligence process involved in any major acquisition, Realex is fully aware of our tenancy in Market Square. They share the vision held by both our current landlord, Cora, and us, that Parmasters KW will be a fantastic addition to both Market Square and the Kitchener core.

Calgary firm buys chunks of Kitchener downtown
Cora Group selling six major properties in $141M deal

From The Record.com
Michael Hammond
RECORD STAFF; with files from Greg Mercer, Record staff

WATERLOO REGION

Downtown Kitchener is getting a major new landlord in a blockbuster deal that will see The Cora Group sell six office buildings and its property management business.

Realex Properties Corp., a real estate company headquartered in Calgary, announced yesterday it has signed a letter of intent to buy five buildings in downtown Kitchener and one in Waterloo from Kitchener-based Cora Group.

The deal, including the property management business, is worth $141.8 million. The price consists of cash, stock and debt, Realex said in a news release. The transaction, slated to close by the end of August, will give Realex sole ownership of the following properties in downtown Kitchener:

Market Square, a former mall that now houses offices, including the Waterloo Region Record

The Commerce House office building at 50 Queen St. E.

An office tower at 22 Frederick St.

The Galleria building at Frederick and Weber streets

An office building 235 King St. E.

Realex is also buying the Accelerator Centre building in the University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park.

The properties have a total of 933,000 square feet of space occupied or for rent and 2,000 parking spaces. Realex will also acquire from Cora the rights to jointly develop land in Kitchener and Waterloo.
Manfred Conrad, chief executive and principal owner of Cora, will join Realex Properties board of directors once the deal closes.

Adrian Conrad, who leads Cora's management business, will become Realex's vice-president in charge of southwestern Ontario.

Neither executive could be reached for comment.

Mayor Carl Zehr said he's pleased the Conrad family will maintain links to the downtown properties through their new roles with Realex.

He takes the deal as a sign outside investors are impressed with new developments happening in the core.

"The momentum that has been building from a number of ventures, both public and private, is sending a message loud and clear," Zehr said.

Mark Garner, executive director of Kitchener Downtown Business Association, said the deal is a promising show of confidence.

"If someone is willing to pay what they are paying, they clearly see a viable market here," he said.
"That can't be a bad thing."

In a press release issued yesterday, Realex's chief executive Marc Sardachuk said the Cora purchase fits with Realex's strategy of expanding into technology regions in eastern Canada.

"This acquisition will help Realex achieve its strategic objective of building a national real estate platform with core property holdings in high growth geographic areas," he said.

Sardachuk could not be reached for further comment yesterday.

Realex holds an ownership stake in 17 office and industrial properties, mainly in Calgary and Edmonton. The company also has a self storage business with locations in Alberta and British Columbia. Realex trades on the TSX Venture Exchange, but the company said in a recent investor presentation that it intends to graduate to the senior TSX exchange this year.

Besides the properties it owns and manages in the region, Cora also has properties in Corunna, Sarnia, Southampton, Blyth and Sudbury.

mhammond@therecord.com

Urban Vitality

There has been much momentum occurring in our downtown as of late. The key to making a downtown a success is ‘urban vitality’ 24-7, 365 days a year, and Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo will help contribute to the vitality of Kitchener’s downtown.

A downtown is a key identifier to a community. Downtowns help define and characterize a community. Our downtown is home to almost 12,000 employees, 691 businesses and 85 restaurants. Over the last year our downtown has also seen a decrease in the apartment vacancy rate and a decrease in the commercial vacancy rate. A downtown’s uniqueness, distinctiveness and vitality are what attract residents and visitors to live, work and play. Last year Kitchener’s downtown saw almost 400,000 people come to the downtown for events and festivals.

What will help Kitchener’s downtown to continue to prosper over the next few years will be more people moving into the core. This in turn will generate the need for more businesses and services in our downtown. Instead of activity coming to a halt at 5 pm when workers leave the downtown for their homes in the suburbs, the residents living in the downtown and the businesses will contribute to a ‘vitality’ after 5 pm. The ‘vitality’ will in turn contribute to the perception that downtown is a safe environment. Unfortunately, there are many in our community that feel downtown as it exists now is not a safe place to be after 5 pm. They couldn’t be more wrong! ‘Urban Vitality’ after 5 pm will help change their perception.

For the next few months, our downtown will be very fortunate to have four Downtown Ambassadors whose job will be to help create a friendly, helpful and safe environment in our downtown. They will promote and respond to inquiries on downtown activities, events and businesses, support outreach workers in the downtown area as needed, provide guided tours for groups visiting the downtown or new hires in downtown businesses and monitor and report to by-law, security or police any negative activities as required. They will be working two shifts, 10 am to 6 pm and 3pm to 11 pm six days of the week. Our Ambassadors will be easily recognizable in their green shirts and will be a welcome addition to our downtown.

Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo can’t wait to open its doors in Kitchener’s downtown and contribute to building ‘Urban Vitality’.

Balance

We continue to set up our temporary Market Square Event Center. Late yesterday we created a meeting space with tables, an LCD panel, etc. Today we must acquire some chairs and other necessities.

I spoke briefly to a friend yesterday about life-work balance. He’s a hard worker and very dedicated, to his work. I’m sure he’s very dedicated to other aspects of life also, but I’ve only really known him as a colleague, connected through business functions.

Of course, as I urged him to maintain some focus on life-work balance, I knew that I was asking him to do as I say, not as I do. I’m currently in a period of great imbalance, working hours that are far too long, and not spending enough time recharging my batteries, so to speak.

Such periods of imbalance are, by their very nature, temporary. These periods may last days, weeks, months or even years, but they’re always temporary. We simply cannot keep going in a perpetual state of imbalance. Eventually our bodies and minds tell us that enough is enough, and we’re forced to re-assess, to re-balance. Thus, these periods of imbalance are always temporary.

And I realize that this period of imbalance for me is also temporary. There’s a lot going on right now, both personally and with Parmasters KW. It’s crunch time, as they say. And when crunch time ends, balance will be less elusive.

And yes, before I close, I do realize there are those that will disagree with the concept of being out of balance at all, even for short periods. Work-oholism is a real issue. But it’s not an issue I deal with. Given the choice between doing what I want (having fun) and working, I will always choose fun.

Membership Preview Events Starting

We’re in the midst of setting up our temporary Market Square Event Center. It’s located within an existing empty retail unit in Market Square, at 25 Frederick Street (the corner of King and Frederick Streets) in the Kitchener core.

This Parmasters KW Event Center will serve as the hub for our pre-opening marketing and sales initiatives. We’ll invite all interested golfers and future golfers to join us for a Membership Preview Event, to consider a Parmasters KW membership.

We’d also like to welcome aboard Mike Perkins. Mike will take the lead on organizing and running our marketing efforts, and he will also coordinate and execute most Membership Preview Events.

Mike is a fantastic addition to our small and growing team. He brings with him a wealth of sales and service expertise and experience, as well as an energetic and positive attitude! I may get Mike to introduce himself via this blog in the next few days.

Mike and I will work this afternoon to put in place some of the final touches on our Event Center.

We’ll run our first Membership Preview Events this week!

King Street Streetscape Redesign

For immediate release

June 18, 2008

Committee approves modified design for King Street streetscape

KITCHENER – Monday, June 16, the city’s development and technical services committee voted in favour of increasing the budget set aside for the King Street streetscape redesign project to $8.8 million, combining the city’s previous funds with the Province of Ontario’s allocation to fund the city’s original vision for the new streetscape.

The city’s portion of the funding for the project will be $5.68 million; while the remaining $3.2 million will come from the Provincial Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative.

The city will issue a tender for this project later this year that will ask vendors to respond with pricing options for different surface materials such as concrete pavers versus granite pavers. This will provide flexibility when city council makes a final decision on the project.

“Given the importance of this project to the overall revitalization of our downtown core, I think it’s only right that we attempt to achieve as much as we can through the redesign of the streetscape – while ensuring that we stay within our budget,” said Ward 6 Councillor Christina Weylie, chair of the development and technical services committee. “I’m very interested to see the ideas that will come out of the tender process.”

In early April 2008, in light of new information that showed the potential for the project’s cost to be $2 million to $4 million more than expected, council directed staff to pause the King Street streetscape project to complete a detailed third-party cost review.

The pause provided more time for staff to conduct a value engineering assessment that focused on determining ways to adjust the design of the project and reduce the overall cost.

Some of the features proposed for the redesign include:

- Replacement of all surface elements of King Street between Frederick and Francis streets;

- Extensive use of granite in sidewalks, curbs and crosswalks;

- New and upgraded street lighting with improved spacing incorporated throughout;

- Flexible parking delineated by removable bollards

- Stormwater infiltration planters and new transit shelters would be introduced throughout; new bike racks and benches would be installed;

- More than 100 trees would be planted

- More than 70 on-street parking spaces would be created.

"By issuing a tender that asks vendors to provide us with several pricing options for this project we will be able to find a way of completing the new streetscape to the benefit of the entire downtown," said Ward 1 Councillor John Smola.

The committee’s preferred option was one of five considered by city staff during their recent review of project costs.

Other options considered included:
- Postponing the project indefinitely;

- Undertaking a basic streetscape renewal that includes replacing surface elements and upgrading lighting ($5.3 million);

- Undertaking a streetscape renewal with the pedestrian first model in mind which would result in a design similar to the one originally proposed using lower quality materials ($7.9 million)

- Proceeding with a modified version of the original design ($6.5 million to $7.9 million)

The city’s portion of the streetscape improvements will be funded through the Economic Development Investment Fund (EDIF) and the roads resurfacing program.

A detailed breakdown of each of the options can be found at www.kitchener.ca. Construction is expected to be completed by 2010.

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For more information:

Michael May
Director of Corporate Communications and Marketing
City of Kitchener
519-741-2935

Ongoing Momentum in Kitchener Core

For immediate release

June 18, 2008

Annual monitoring report highlights ongoing momentum in downtown Kitchener

KITCHENER – The 2007 Downtown Trends and Indicators report, released at Monday's meeting of the city's finance and corporate services committee, shows that continued momentum in development in the core is spurring residents to live, work, learn and play in downtown Kitchener. 

The Downtown Trends and Indicators report, which outlines and analyzes the progress and performance of downtown Kitchener and surrounding neighbourhoods, summarizes the 2007-2010 Economic Development Strategy in action; the strategy builds on the Downtown Strategic Plan, but also addresses city-wide economic development.

"The statistics show we have a significant proportion of employees downtown, especially in daytime hours," said Silvia Wright, manager of downtown and community development for the City. "There are now indicators for increased residential development, which is the most significant need to provide balance for 24-7 vitality, and especially to provide a sustainable market for downtown businesses."

"People are choosing to live in the downtown and many of our citizens are spending their time downtown enjoying our special events, restaurants, live theatres and shops," said Councillor Chris Weylie (Ward 6).  "We are thrilled that the new Centre Block development and the Provincial Courthouse will be built in the downtown in the near future. These and other recent developments will lead to more successes in the core.

Some highlights of the 2007
Downtown Trends and Indicators Report are:

* 18,862 residents or 8.7 per cent of total population in downtown neighbourhoods

* Nearly 12,000 people work in the downtown core

* Construction values in 2007 are nearly double 2001 values

* 245 new residential units approved for construction, which account for 14.2 per cent of new units city-wide, with 1,104 new units currently being proposed for future development

* 28 per cent increase in event attendance; since 2004, 1.3 million people have attended events in downtown Kitchener

* Net growth of 48 business in the past three years; many of the new businesses added in 2007 were small retail shops, reflecting the increasing demand for retail shops by the office workers added in prior years

* $36.3 million in construction values in 2007, representing 8.3 per cent of city-wide activity; there has been a 30 per cent increase in permits since 2005, and $254.1 million in construction since 2001

* Decrease in apartment vacancy rate to 3.6 per cent, a five-year low; decrease in commercial vacancy rate to 9.9 per cent

"In the new economy, with a competition for talent, and a focus on environmental interest, urban centres are the economic engine for the entire community," notes Wright.

The report will come to council on Monday, June 23.

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For more information:
Jana Miller
Manager, Corporate Communications
City of Kitchener
519.741.2458

Our Newest Team Member Starting

It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally here. Our newest team member will start tomorrow. Welcome aboard Mike!

Mike will focus on one thing and one thing only: marketing and selling memberships. Membership at Parmasters KW will offer incredible value, lots of game improvement and most importantly, fun.

We’ll soon start regular meetings – we call the “preview meetings” – where future members can learn the many benefits of membership. Mike will help book future members into these meetings and also run many of the meetings.

Preview meetings will run Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings, on a weekly basis.

I also wanted to congratulate friend and colleague Jim Estill on his recent blog accolades. Well done Jim!

For now, off to a breakfast meeting and then a full agenda of calls and tasks.

A Dad’s Faith

Another Father’s Day has come and gone. Dads have received due, their day of recognition and appreciation. Now they’re back to doing what they do best, being dads.

So, as the leftover cake is consumed, and Dads thank their children again for their thoughtful gifts, here’s a poem that resonates.


A Dad’s Faith

Out of all the dads that God picked through,
I thank Him every day that He picked you.
You are always there to lend a hand,
to pick me up when I could not stand.
To guide me and love me and to show me the way,
I love you dad each and every day.
You always know when something is not quite right,
and you always find a way to fix it before the day turns to night.
Thank you dad for believing and having a strong faith in God,
and for allowing Him to show you the child He had so carefully picked out for you to raise.
I would not be the [man] I am today,
without the faith that God had sent your way.
© Kimberly C. Arbogast

More Momentum for the Kitchener Core

We had two very positive announcements in Kitchener’s downtown core on Friday. Congratulations to the various driving forces behind these two great projects! This is more fantastic news and additional momentum for the City of Kitchener, core businesses and commerce, the Kitchener Downtown Business Association, and all residents!

The two announcements were covered in detail by the Waterloo Region Record. I’ve included below both the links to the articles, and the full text of the articles themselves.


A new courthouse: Kitchener facility will combine all regional courthouse operations

June 14, 2008
Frances Barrick
RECORD STAFF
WATERLOO REGION

Local politicians, judges and lawyers hailed the choice of downtown Kitchener as the site of a long-awaited new courthouse.

"I think it hits the mark," Justice Pat Flynn of Kitchener Superior Court said after the announcement yesterday by Kitchener Centre MPP John Milloy.

The multi-million-dollar courthouse will be built on a 3.3-acre site bounded by Weber, Frederick, Duke and Scott streets.

Except for a few businesses fronting Frederick Street, including a law office, the site is now a parking lot. The new address will be 59 Weber St.

The state-of-the-art courthouse will bring under one roof three existing courthouses -- two in Kitchener and one in Cambridge.

Construction is to begin in 2010, but officials yesterday did not know how long it will take or how much it will cost.

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig was "very disappointed" the province didn't consider his city as a site for a consolidated courthouse. "We are trying to revitalize our core area like everybody else and this will hurt us."

Attempts to keep the courthouse at 99 Main St. open after the new one is built have failed, Craig said.

Court operations will also be moved out of the existing courthouses at 20 Weber St. and 200 Frederick St. in Kitchener.

Milloy announced plans for the consolidated courthouse almost three years ago to the day. People attending his announcement yesterday at Kitchener City Hall criticized the province for dragging its feet on a much-needed project.

"It is very frustrating that this has taken so long," said Flynn, whose Superior Courthouse is so crammed he and another judge have offices in former boiler rooms. "It is about time that politicians in Queen's Park recognize the depth and breadth of this region."

Flynn said the Superior Courthouse was built in 1959 to hold two courtrooms. Six courtrooms are now squeezed into the building, and security is inadequate.

"It is a very, very inadequate place for the operation and administration of justice."

The chosen site for the new courthouse is fitting, he said, since it is the site of the region's first county courthouse.

Kitchener Coun. Kelly Galloway said the project will be "another significant step" in the revitalization of the city's core. "We are extremely pleased."

Regional Chair Ken Seiling said the location fits with regional goals of infilling and developing city cores, although he's hoping for an earlier construction date. "Let's keep the pressure on the province and may be we can get the ball rolling faster."

The region owns the building housing Superior Court, and Seiling said there are plans to renovate it to house regional offices. The province owns the Kitchener courthouse and leases the Cambridge one.

Bill Moore of the Ontario Realty Corp. said the province will consider what to do with the Kitchener building once the court operations move out. He said the province's purchase of the Weber Street site should be completed in a few weeks after all environmental and soil tests are completed.

The next step will be the calling of proposals to build the courthouse from the private sector, Milloy said. The courthouse is part of the province's five-year plan to spend more than $30 billion in Ontario's infrastructure.


Centre Block proposal ready for council

June 14, 2008
Terry Pender
RECORD STAFF
KITCHENER

City council will be asked Monday to spend another $5.5 million on the redevelopment of a moribund block in the core.

After a year of negotiations with Andrin Investments Ltd., staff will ask council to select the Brampton-based developer for the long-awaited rebuilding of Centre Block.

It will be the latest chapter in the city's nine-year effort to assemble the land -- bounded by King, Young, Duke and Ontario streets -- and persuade someone to redevelop it.

"It continues with the huge momentum we have in the downtown core," said Mark Garner, head of the Kitchener Downtown Business Association and a member of the committee that evaluated the Andrin plan.

Included as part of the deal would be a cash infusion of $5.5 million by the city to pay for the cost of building 250 underground-parking spaces for the public, which Kitchener would own.

"There is a need for increased parking in the core," Garner said. "If we are going to get that growth, I think there is a huge need for that."

If councillors approve the deal, a detailed development agreement must be negotiated with Andrin, which could take up to five months. The company must also pre-sell 60 to 70 per cent of the 384 condominiums it plans for the site before construction begins. Work could start next spring.

It would take four years to finish the $90-million project, which includes two condo towers and shorter buildings that would wrap around Duke, Young and King streets. An underground parking garage with 750 spaces and a courtyard are also planned.

A committee of staff and citizens, formed in early 2007, has evaluated the plan and endorsed it.

"I think it is very important to get some high-quality housing in the Kitchener core," said committee member Rick Haldenby, the director of the University of Waterloo school of architecture.

Andrin wants to convert the historic Mayfair building into a boutique hotel and spa. Retail and live-work units are slated for the three-storey buildings fronting Duke, Young and King streets. The renovation of two other historic addresses on King is also part of the plan. "We need a social and cultural mix in the core, and I think this has the potential to draw people to live downtown," Haldenby said.

The city spent $9.1 million to assemble the land and buy out several businesses. The figure includes $7.65 million for the land and businesses and $1.45 million on legal fees, closing costs and consultants.

Under the proposed deal, Andrin will pay the city $3.1 million -- $2.3 million for the vacant land, $100,000 for a strip of land along King Street and $700,000 for the historic buildings at 11 Young St. and at 156-158 King St.

The 250 parking spaces would cost $35,000 each, for a total of $8.75 million, said Dan Chapman, acting city treasurer.

The city has $5.5 million earmarked for the parking from its economic development investment fund. That, coupled with the funds from the sale of land and buildings to Andrin, would be used to pay for the parking spaces.

"So our estimate right now is that we are about $400,000 short in funding, but we are still in negotiations with Andrin," Chapman said.

The city is on the hook to provide 175 parking spaces to Wilfrid Laurier University students and faculty for $20 a month per space. This was part of the deal negotiated to attract the school of social work to the downtown.

Andrin is no stranger to Kitchener. It partnered with Kimshaw Holdings to convert the former Kaufman factory into condominiums. That project cost more than $40 million.

When the city sought proposals for the redevelopment of Centre Block, three companies submitted plans by April 2007 -- Morguard Investments, the Windmill Development Group and Andrin. Within a few weeks Morguard and Windmill withdrew, leaving Andrin as the sole developer to negotiate with the city.

Refocusing On Our Goals

I’ve been through an interesting exercise these past several days. I dedicated most of the weekend to refocusing on my personal and business goals. This journey included time re-establishing and reaffirming my goals, as well as ensuring I was dedicating time in my day toward reaching and attaining my goals.

This process eventually lead to an adjustment of the way I note and track the tasks that I must complete, and the way I determine priorities.

I converted a while back, as per this blog entry, to a time management system advocated by David Allen in Getting Things Done. Well, in fairness, as I believe many of us do, I took many bits and pieces of Allen’s suggested system, but did not adopt his process in its absolute entirety.

Allen’s system included the concept of Urgency and Importance. I’ve blogged about the use of Urgency and Importance in determining priorities here.

At any rate, I’ve now re-affirmed my personal definitions of Urgency and Importance, and will ensure I use these definitions whenever I categorize a task. Each particular task may be Urgent and/or Important. As noted above, I have blogged before about where one’s time should be spent.

This refocusing journey is not quite complete, but I’m almost there. Parmasters KW is poised for great things, and we shall achieve those great things a little faster, through focus, intentionality and determination!

Second Anniversary

Congratulations to Parmasters Memphis! They’re celebrating their second anniversary this month! The Memphis team, including co-owners Mike and Mario, have made a massive contribution to the Parmasters franchise system and family. We owe them a lot.

We’re in the middle of another busy week within the development of Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. We continue to raise capital and lay plans for marketing and sales.

To say it’s been a challenging journey, opening our first center, would be a massive understatement. It’s an interesting life, being an entrepreneur. It can be both exhilarating and devastating in the same day. Often in the same hour! And of course, I wouldn’t trade it for anything! It’s a wild ride!

And someday soon, Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo will celebrate its second anniversary. Someday soon! For now, it’s back to work, back to making it happen!

Undiscussed

It’s been a long day, and now also a long evening. The day was filled with discussions and meetings focused on a few very weighty topics, both business and personal. There was much to discuss, and much more remains as yet, undiscussed (even though that’s not a word, officially).

This evening I’ve been working on an update to our shareholders. I didn’t get started until around 11:00pm, but that was earlier than anticipated. Earlier in the evening I enjoyed a nice meal and some wonderful company, which proved to be a welcome respite from an otherwise difficult day.

For now, it’s time to get organized for tomorrow’s tasks, and then grab a little shut-eye.

Absentee Blogger?

I’ve been an absentee blogger again. Or, perhaps that’s an oxymoron. By definition a blogger is one who blogs, and thus is not absent, or absentee. But, I digress.

Things are moving along with Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. We’ll soon hire our first team member and start selling memberships. You’ll soon see a large banner on the Frederick Street facade of Market Square, at the corner of King and Frederick, our home. And we’re also opening our temporary sales office within Market Square. Exciting times!

It’s also a very stressful time, as leader of the company, as we line up the remaining bits of capital that we require. There are always challenges in business, but some challenges tend to stress me more than others. Capital is one such thorn.

And of course, golf season is upon us once again. We can’t wait to participate more actively within the local golf scene. We’ll be heavily involved in tournament sponsorship, tournament hosting and ancillary activities. And of course, our Straight-Line Golf system makes golfers better – at least 25% better, to be specific – and so our largest contribution to the local golf scene will definitely be happier, more satisfied golfers.

Better golf. More fun. Guaranteed.

Downtown Revitalization

We were mentioned in a recent City of Kitchener publication. Your Kitchener is produced every two months and distributed widely throughout Kitchener, including insertion in The Record newspaper. We were interviewed for an article titled “Downtown revitalization worth the wait.”

[Kitchener Downtown Business Association Executive Director, Mark] Garner added that entrepreneurs – the more established ones and the most recent ones - recognize the value of getting in on the ground floor of a dynamic new downtown.

Entrepreneur Stephen Southern is one of them. He plans to open an indoor golfing health club and training facility, called Parmasters, for the thousands of people who work in the core. The facility will be housed on the ground floor of the Market Square retail office building at King and Frederick streets.

“We’re locating in the Kitchener core for many reasons, including the large number of employees nearby and the growing number of residents in the area. It’s also a very central location, allowing quick and easy access from most of both Kitchener and Waterloo, not to mention Cambridge. We’re signing on for at least 10 years at this location. It’s great to see the many exciting developments in the vicinity,” he said.

Parmasters will feature driving-range simulators, sand-trap practice areas, putting greens, a pro shop and a café. This semi-private golf-training centre will feature 15,000 square feet of golf training facilities, where the average golfer can practise year-round.

I must add that Mark Garner is doing a fantastic job for both the KDBA and the residents of Kitchener! We talk often, but not often enough. I share ideas, as I’m sure many, many others do. Mark’s energy level and commitment to the core are second to none. We’re lucky to have him.

The Only Thing a Golfer Needs

I thoroughly enjoyed this article – Tiger Woods: Making putts and history – recently published within the Windsor Star. I’ve included the full text of the article below.

Two things jumped out at me, both in relation to Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo.

First, as noted in the article, since becoming a professional Tiger Woods has twice completely rebuilt and retooled his golf swing. As the article points out, Woods has done this “so that he can ‘own’ it [his golf swing] in the same manner as Hogan and Canadian legend Moe Norman.”

Well, at Parmasters, as I’ve previously noted in this blog, we guarantee results with our golf training. We guarantee that we’ll reduce your handicap by 25%, or your money is refunded. Period. We do this by starting from the ground up, building you a brand new golf swing, much in the same way that the best golfer on the planet has twice built a new swing. Of course, we don’t expect those that take our lessons to work quite as hard at their game as Tiger does.

The second item that jumped out at me was the following quote from Ben Hogan.

“The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight.”

Come to Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo. We provide “the only thing a golfer needs.” We provide more daylight!

Here’s the full article.

Tiger Woods
Making putts and history

Windsor Star
Thursday, March 20, 2008

You knew he would make it. Tiger Woods hadn't drained a putt longer than 20 feet through 71 holes during the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, but dramatically curled in a 25-foot downhill slider Sunday for birdie at the last and a one-shot victory -- his fifth in a row on the PGA Tour.

The dramatic putt was set up by a remarkable 5-iron from 175 yards Woods described as the best shot he hit all tournament -- four trying days where he fought an erratic swing but still eked out a win. Other golfers collapse when the tournament is on the line. Woods thrives. Other golfers find ways to lose tournaments. Woods finds ways to win. Rare is the moment Woods hasn't mastered.

Sometimes that involves, like it did on the final hole of the 2000 Canadian Open at Glen Abbey, launching a six-iron from a fairway bunker 218 yards over water to within 15 feet of the cup. And sometimes it involves miraculous chip-ins, like the improbable 30-footer on the 16th hole of the 2005 Masters. That ball hung on the edge for two full seconds that seemed like forever. If Woods hadn't chipped that ball, you suspect it wouldn't have dropped.

Woods has already surpassed Palmer in terms of career PGA Tour victories and is now chasing Jack Nicklaus and Sam Snead. Sunday's victory, his 64th, ties him with the legendary Ben Hogan, widely regarded as the greatest ball striker of all time and a man with whom Woods has much in common.

It was said Hogan played one game and every other professional another and the same could be said of Woods. He has rebuilt his golf swing twice as a professional, defying the critics who said he shouldn't tinker with a winning formula, so that he can "own" it in the same manner as Hogan and Canadian legend Moe Norman.

Hogan was known for his fitness and gruelling practice sessions in an era when professionals were more likely to be found on bar stools than practice tees. Hogan strived every day to become a better player and so does Woods. He is a testament to the virtues of dedication and commitment. Woods' secret, quite simply, is that he works harder than anybody else. And, unlike Hogan, Woods' putting is otherworldly when the pressure is on.

Woods is undefeated in 2008 and commentators are beginning to speculate whether he can run the table, including the four major championships. Should he win the Grand Slam this year, Woods, just 32, would have 17 majors to his credit -- one shy of Nicklaus, who recorded his last major victory when he was 46.

Hogan, who dug his trademark swing out of the dirt by beating endless golf balls, once said "the only thing a golfer needs is more daylight." Sports fans can only hope the sun doesn't somehow set prematurely on Woods; that tragedy doesn't strike him the way a Greyhound bus smashed into Hogan at the height of his career.

Because the most frightening thing about Woods is that he hasn't reached his apex yet. He's still trying to own his swing. He's still trying to get better and he will get better as his experience rises to the level of his intimidating physical and mental prowess.

As he grows less flexible and weakens with age -- it is hard to imagine but time will wear on Woods the way it wears on all of us -- he'll compensate by drawing on his accumulated knowledge. He'll know, for example, Augusta's sloping, devilish greens more intimately than any man alive. Experience helped Nicklaus drain those bombs in that final, thrilling charge at The Masters in 1986 and there's no reason to suspect it won't help Woods bring home one final major a decade or even two from now.

Woods isn't just playing golf and making putts anymore. He's making history. If you haven't been paying attention, you should start this weekend. Athletes like him and stories like this come around once in a lifetime. If that. Enjoy. Magical Sundays can't last forever. Not even in Tiger's world.

Write a Book?

With my Dad’s recent passing, this has been a time of introspection. And quite honestly, it feels very wrong to talk/type, at this time, about MY introspection. It feels wrong to make this time about me, in any way. I think it’s simply part of the mourning process, to feel adamant that this time, this mourning period, should be all about my Dad, and not about me.

But, nevertheless, I have done a fair bit of thinking about me, my life, etc., during this mourning period. Many people have told me that my Dad was very proud of me. Indeed, he told me so many times. That’s comforting, but can also lead to self-imposed pressure, to continue to do him proud, and to continue to make him proud.

I’ve also been struck lately by a very strong urge to write a book about my Dad’s life. I wonder if this is common. I believe it all started with writing and delivering Dad’s eulogy at his funeral. I consulted with my Mom, and my Aunt, and others, and thus learned more about my Dad’s life than I’d ever known while he was alive. He led an interesting life, which is a great reason to write about him; but I believe there’s more to this urge.

If I write about Dad, then his story, his life, will live on. And so, part of my recent introspection deals with this urge to write about Dad’s life. Would it be healthy, or merely an attempt to deny his death? Would it be an attempt to capture and honour his life, or would it be an attempt to not let go? Is it about him, or about me?

I realize this post is a little melancholy. I’ve always maintained that this blog would be open and forthright. I’m a busy entrepreneur working night and day to launch the first of five Parmasters Golf Training Centers in southern Ontario. But as all that work goes on, life, and death, still happen.

I’ll close on a more optimistic tone, with one of my favourite quotes.

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” -Alan Cohen

Ontario Golf Magazine

I met with Ontario Golf Magazine today. It’s a top notch publication that can definitely help us get our message out to Waterloo Region and beyond. We talked about many creative ways to work together.

I’m sitting in a William’s Coffee Pub as I type this blog entry. Why here? I guess there are a few different reasons, including the food is tasty and healthy; I enjoy the environment; and it’s a good place to get a bit of work done between meetings. But, the main selling point is a Wi-Fi hotspot (i.e. free wireless Internet access).

Our centers, including Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo, will be fully Wi-Fi enabled. By offering a wireless hotspot, we allow our members and other patrons to stay connected while visiting Parmasters. We believe this will contribute to both “Better golf” and “More fun.”

And that’s what we’re all about. Better golf. More fun. Guaranteed.

We’re also starting to partner with local golf courses and other local businesses. As in all things, we look for a win-win-win (i.e. our members and other patrons, our partners, and Parmasters) arrangement. Again, we drive the shape of these relationships to ensure we create “Better golf” and “More fun.”

For now, I’ll get back to the work of building those relationships, and our Parmasters Golf Training Center, and eventually that wireless hotspot!

Curve Balls

It’s been a busy whirlwind of a weekend, and clearly at close to 2:00am on Monday morning, my weekend is not quite over yet. My boys and I visited my Mom in my home town Saturday night and Sunday morning. My eldest had a hockey game here in Kitchener late Saturday afternoon – and scored a goal – so we drove up to my hometown after that.

As it turns out, we would have been better off staying put in Kitchener. I had some plans for Sunday afternoon that fell through and, as it turns out, they should have been completed Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning at the latest. I was hoping Sunday evening could have worked, as a backup, but that apparently wasn’t in the cards.

As a former competitive curler, it’s been fun watching a bit of the Brier this past week. Alberta defeated Ontario in the final today. I recorded it early this evening and watched it late this evening. Having played many of the participants in the past, it was fun to watch them in action this week. Of course, they were much better than me back then, when I played competitively, and are certainly even more dominant today. That’s great to see.

Not only did plans for Sunday afternoon fall through, but most of Monday has been wiped out also. I’ll have to re-work my entire schedule. I was really looking forward to some Monday morning appointments, but they’ve now been scratched. Life is full of curve balls.

Sign Me Up!

My youngest son has decided he wants to start blogging. We’ll work on that soon. I will, of course, moderate both his posts and any comments he receives. He’s tried to explain the topics/focus of his blog to me a couple of times, but I have yet to fully understand. Maybe next time.

We’re currently working to prepare a temporary sales office within Market Square. This will serve as our home base during construction of Parmasters Kitchener-Waterloo, and will also provide the space for people to come and learn the value of membership.

We’ll start hosting preview meetings in the coming weeks. These meetings consist of a brief presentation where we explain all of the many benefits of Parmasters membership. It’s simply our best effort to ensure that all future members make a thoroughly informed decision.

And of course, given the incredible indoor golf training center that we’re building, and the guarantees we provide, and the level of service we provide, all at a membership rate that is incredibly low, once a prospective member has the information required to make an informed decision, the answer is almost always ‘sign me up!’

How to Make Measurable Progress Toward Your Most-Neglected Goals

I read the following article in Early to Rise. The message is so important, I’ve decided to include it here.

From Early to Rise:

How to Make Measurable Progress Toward Your Most-Neglected Goals

By Michael Masterson

To Master Plan your new life, you must begin with long-term goals that correspond to your core values. From that good start, you must establish yearly and monthly objectives. Based on those objectives, you create weekly and daily task lists. Doing all that will help greatly. But if you want to really change your life, you have to learn how to prioritize.

I didn't always know how to prioritize. For much of my business career, I relied on goal setting and task lists and was happy with the results. But when I turned 50 and started writing for Early to Rise, I began to read how other business leaders achieved their goals. And that's when I discovered what a huge difference prioritizing can make.

The most important lesson I learned came from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. In that book, Covey presents a technique for prioritizing that impressed me greatly and soon became a central part of my planning process.

Divide your tasks, Covey says, into four categories:

- Not important and not urgent
- Not important but urgent
- Important but not urgent
- Important and urgent

In the "not important and not urgent" category, you would put such things as:

- Catching up on office gossip
- Shopping online for personal items
- Answering unimportant phone calls
- Responding to unimportant e-mails

In the "not important but urgent" category, you would include:

- Returning phone calls from pesky salespeople
- Making last-minute preparations for an office party
- Attending a required meeting that doesn't help your career
- Planning for a meeting that doesn't matter

In the "important and urgent" category, you might list:

- Making last-minute preparations for an important meeting with the boss
- Making last-minute sales calls to key clients
- Solving unexpected problems

And, finally, in the "important but not urgent" category, you might include:

- Learning how to write better
- Learning how to speak better
- Learning how to think better
- Working on your novel
- Getting down to a healthy weight

When you break up tasks into these four categories, it's easy to see that you should give no priority at all to "not important and not urgent" tasks. In fact, these tasks should not be done at all. They are a waste of time. Yet many people spend lots of time on them because they tend to be easy to do and sometimes enjoyable in a mindless sort of way. Or because they are afraid to get to work on important tasks because they are afraid of failure.

Even worse than spending time on tasks that are not important and not urgent is spending time on those that are not important but urgent. They should have been dealt with long before they reached the crisis stage.

If you discover that you are spending a lot of time on unimportant tasks, you've got a serious problem. Unless you change your ways, you're unlikely to achieve any of your important goals.

So which tasks should you give priority to?

In Seven Habits, Covey says that most people think they should give priority to important and urgent tasks. But this is a mistake. "It's like the pounding surf," he says. "A huge problem comes and knocks you down and you're wiped out. You struggle back up only to face another one that knocks you down and slams you to the ground." You are "literally beat up by problems all day every day."

All urgent tasks - both unimportant and important - are problematic: They are urgent because you've neglected something or because they are important to other people (like your boss). In either case, you need to find a way to keep most of them from winding up on your daily to-do list. This means making some changes in your work habits - usually a combination of being more efficient and delegating more chores to other people.

Urgent tasks will burn you out. And turn you into an unhappy workaholic. If you want transformation in your life, you have to give priority to the important but not urgent tasks - because those are the ones that will help you achieve your major, long-term goals.

It's not easy.

The important but not urgent tasks whisper, while the urgent tasks shout. But there is a way to get that critical but quiet stuff done in four simple steps:

Step 1. When planning your day, divide your tasks into Covey's four categories: not important and not urgent, not important but urgent, important but not urgent, and important and urgent.

Step 2. You will, of course, have to do the urgent tasks - at least until you get better at taking charge of your schedule. And you will have to find a way to get rid of the tasks that are not important and not urgent. But make sure you include one important but not urgent task that, when completed, will move you closer to one of your long-term goals.

Step 3. Highlight that important but not urgent task on your to-do list. Make it your number one priority for the day.

Step 4. Do that task first - before you do anything else.

Initially, you will find it difficult to do an important but not urgent task first. There are reasons for that.

- Since it is not urgent, you don't feel like it's important. But it is.
- Since it supports a goal you've been putting off, you are in the habit of neglecting it.
- You are in the habit of neglecting it because you don't think it's important and because you might be afraid of doing it.
- You might be afraid of doing it because you know, deep down inside, that it will change your life. And change, even good change, is scary.

But once you start using this little four-step technique, you'll notice something right away.

The first thing you'll notice is how good you feel. Accomplishing something you've been putting off is energizing. It will erase some doubts you have about yourself - doubts caused by years of "never getting to" your long-term goals.

That extra energy and confidence will grow, and will fuel you throughout the day. This will make it easier for you to accomplish other important but not urgent tasks.

As the days go by, you will realize that you are making measurable progress toward your neglected goals. In just a few weeks, you will be amazed at how much you've already done. And in 52 weeks - a short year from now - you will be a brand-new, much more productive person.

That year is going to pass by anyway. You are going to spend the time somehow. Why not do it by taking charge of your schedule? Why not spend that time on yourself - on what's really important to you?

On A Lighter Note, Happy Birthday to Me

I wrote this post on my birthday, February 22, around the supper hour. I meant to publish it later that night, but never did do so. The following morning my world was turned upside down. So here, now, is my February 22 birthday post, finally.

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February 22, 2008 – I awoke today to discover that I have travelled around our little star, fondly referred to as “the Sun”, a sum total of 42 times. I may have just started my 43rd lap, or I may just be finishing up my 42nd. I can’t say for sure.

According to PhysicalGeography.net, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun is elliptical. I had forgotten this. (Interestingly, they refer to “the Earth”, rather than “Earth”. I’ve always used the latter, not the former.) At any rate, PhysicalGeography.net also notes that the average distance of THE Earth from the Sun over a one-year period is approximately 149,600,000 km. They don’t specify whether this is from the central core of the Earth, or from the surface, but since the Earth’s diameter is a mere 12,756 km (from About.com), I think we’d be quibbling to get more specific.

Ignoring for the moment that the Earth’s orbit is elliptical, and instead assuming a circular orbit, and using our simple formula for circumference (C) of a circle, as related to diameter (D) and radius (R) we see that:

C (Earth’s orbit) = Pi x D
C (Earth’s orbit) = Pi x (R x 2)

And substituting for R we find that:

C (Earth’s orbit) = Pi x (149,600,000 km x 2)
C (Earth’s orbit) = Pi x 299,200,000 km
C (Earth’s orbit) = 939,964,521 km

Since I’ve completed this crazy journey approximately 42 times, that puts a healthy 39,478,509,922 km under my belt! Not bad.

That pales in comparison to the average 10,000 km per year that I tend to drive. And of course we have not accounted for the Earth’s rotation. Perhaps next year.

I also surfed over to the BBC’s On This Day page. On February 22, in 1991 Bush Sr. gave “Iraq until 17:00 GMT tomorrow to pull out of Kuwait”, and in 1997 Dolly the sheep was cloned.

In February 1966, the Soviet space program landed a probe on the Moon and the US state of Hawaii hosted a US-Vietnamese summit.

Heading over to the Age Gauge, which is very USA-centric, and which gave a strange error and may not be working all that accurately any more, I was:
- 17 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
- 13 years old during the time of the Iran hostage crisis – Way to go Ken Taylor and team!
- 3 years old when the Americans landed on the Moon