Killarney spa offers fast lane to relaxation

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This article was published 18/01/2018 (3037 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KILLARNEY — A destination is an apt descriptor for an elegant wellness centre in Killarney, featuring massage therapy, holistic healing practices, yoga and a float cabin all under one roof.

Jacqueline Dickson, president and part-owner of the Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre, doesn’t want her spa in a small town to seem pretentious, however.

“We want it to feel more like you’re coming home. We don’t want it to feel like you’re in an uppity salon,” she said, as visitors streamed inside for an evening aqua fit class.

“We have a group of girls that come twice a week from Deloraine. They stay. They have breakfast and coffee. We know about their families, they know about ours. It’s just very homey here and very family-oriented,” she said.

Dickson never envisioned this: more than 20 professionals working at a wellness centre named after her mother, who prioritized health and wellness before it was cool.

“I think she would have loved this place,” Dickson says of the centre’s namesake, Mary Ann Moore.

Dickson was a hairstylist in Killarney when her eldest daughter, a trained massage therapist, couldn’t find a place to work. That’s when the mother and daughter settled into a renovated 600 sq.-ft. building together, to work on their respective practices.

A common visitor then was Jacqueline’s mother, who loved to chat with whoever dropped in.

When Mary Ann died in 2013 of ovarian cancer, her husband, Brian, who runs Moore Building Centre in Killarney, chose to invest in her daughter’s business as a legacy to his wife.

Initially at 3,600 sq. ft., the centre geared toward healthy living has since swelled to 10,000 sq. ft. The expansion opened last May.

Their services are wide-ranging. The Mary Ann Moore Wellness Centre includes an expanded yoga studio, salt-water pool and a float cabin.

A pool with salt-water chlorination is gentle on the skin and eyes, she said. People sensitive to chlorine report fewer irritations dipping into salt water.

In the quiet tank known as the float cabin, 1,100 pounds of Epsom salts in just 12 inches of water ensures people float because of natural buoyancy, like in the Dead Sea. The treatment is said to lessen stress relief, rheumatism and chronic pain, among other ailments.

Augmenting these offerings at the wellness centre are massage therapy, hot stone massages, manicures and pedicures, electrolysis to permanently remove hair, foot care services, a dietitian and a medium who gives psychic readings. Dickson continues to run her hair salon on the other end of the building.

Most of the professionals are not actually employed by Dickson, but rather lease space in her facility.

In the months since the expansion, Dickson’s been pushing memberships to the pool, open for organized aquafit classes, casual swims or dips in the hot tub. A yearlong membership costs a smidge more than $3 a day.

Dickson acknowledges her venture is unique for a small town, unaware of another facility with such a range of services in rural Manitoba.

“Sometimes we’ll get a little bit of comment on the price of the swimming, but we’re not run by a town. We’re privately owned so we don’t have taxpayers’ dollars to help us run this,” she said. “We did not do this to make money. We did it so it will run itself and that Killarney has something that they can say, ‘Killarney has this big spa.’ It can put us on the map a little bit.

Many are getting the appeal. Take the staff, who willingly return to work when they’re not on the clock to take in a treatment, enjoy a swim or stretch their body or mind at a yoga class.

Three of Dickson’s four daughters work here as well.

“It’s kind of a hard place to work, hey?” Dickson joked. “People are happy here. I’ve been here since eight this morning and the day just flies by,” she explained one recent night.

Dickson greets most people by name as they arrive for an aquafit class.

One introduction was to Carole English, a 75-year-old former nurse who recently lost 20 pounds during a weight loss competition the spa held.

“I couldn’t believe it, because I’m probably 30-40 years older than most of the ladies” participating, she said.

She credits the pool, and the low-impact exercises in the water particularly, with keeping her active.

“I find the water exercises much easier on my joints,” she said. “I really recommend it for everyone who has joint problems.”

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