Letter: Make Co-op Place more accessible, despite location

By Letter to the Editor on October 1, 2021.

Dear editor,

A previous city council’s $75-million Co-op Place blunder continues to be a taxpayer’s financial burden – as pointed out in Collin Gallant’s recent News article, when quoting operational cost figures for recreational facilities, as stated by Coun. Kris Samraj, (comparing the higher operational costs to the old Medicine Hat Arena, which it replaced). Another possible financial issue is its location.

Unfortunately, we can’t relocate Co-op Place. Its distant location does not promote convenient city recreational usage. A possible solution might be to make the existing $75-million facility far more accessible, by offering free city bus transportation to all recreational users, rather than build similar facilities. I am old enough to remember busing resistance, which was promoted to avoid building new schools.

Busing does make economic sense and has since become common for schools. If we were a rapidly growing city, building on the outskirts might make sense, but in our case it was a previous city council blunder, in my opinion.

I can’t help admiring how Moose Jaw got it right, with both their Event Centre location and funding. In summary, Moose Jaw’s Events Centre (Mosaic Place) was built right downtown for around $61 million; the city paying $34.5 million after grants and other funding. It also includes eight sheets of ice for curlers, seats 4,465 for hockey and over 5,000 for events and concerts.

If memory serves, the cost also included a nearby Field House. Both Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat are homes to WHL teams but an Events Centre should cater to far more than hockey and concerts and be accessible to all.

Please city council incumbents, let’s not even consider repeating building a recreational facility on the outskirts ever again.