The Crestwood Recreation Centre will not open this fall after parks department officials determined the cost of implementing health guidelines was too much considering that changes would severely limit the number of people using the facility.--NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
Services at one city recreation facility are expanding, while the opening of another is delayed until at least the new year, according to Medicine Hat’s parks and recreation department.
Since June the city has worked to reopen facilities following the blanket closure in March to comply with pandemic-related health orders.
That began with staged segments of the Family Leisure Centres and some outdoor pools, as officials said they were evaluating “safe opening” procedures at others.
On Thursday, they announced that the Crestwood Rec Centre and pool will not open this fall, as complying with health requirements that would limit attendance would be too costly for too few patrons.
“We would not be able to offer the same level of programming as we did before,” said parks department general manager James Will. “We could only accommodate so many people in the facility at once and those numbers just don’t add up.”
Will stated the decision to keep Crestwood facility closed “until 2021” was disappointing, but starting next week, more programming will be offered at the leisure centre.
Emergency management officials told the News in July that attendance at facilities that were open was not meeting even the lowered capacity required by health orders. As such, the city was reviewing the schedule for opening more pools and indoor facilities, namely Crestwood, and might base a decision on cost considering low revenue.
“We looked at and considered all of our options when it came to reopening Crestwood this year,” said Will. “It would take a significant amount of time and money to be done properly and right now we have the ability to offer more programs at the FLC.”
Earlier this week, the department announced that more normalized operations and activity offerings would return to the FLC starting Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The gymnasium will be open to more pickleball, basketball and badminton games, and up to 30 fitness classes could be offered each week.
Regularly priced admission, or the need for monthly or annual passes, will also return, and pre-registration is still required and health guidelines from the province are still being observed.
