Reopen now, rebuild later: rec facilities report

By COLLIN GALLANT on December 14, 2021.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

A report into recreation facilities will suggest reopening a closed arena and swim centre while drawing up plans to replace them after the next five years.

Monday’s meeting of the public service committee heard an update on a facilities report which was a central election issue this fall.

Administrators say the report on buildings – the third in a process of developing a long-term plan for the recreation department – will be before council by the end of January, and will likely suggest operating existing sites until more substantial upgrades are needed.

“We know there’s a desire for the Crestwood Rec Centre to reopen and have an operating plan for the next seven to eight years,” said parks and recreation director James Will. “But not to the point when we need to put $7 million or $8 million (in required maintenance) into it.

“Really, we’d use up what we have there as we plan for a replacement.”

Council members toured the Crestwood and Moose recreation centres late Monday afternoon. When COVID restrictions lifted earlier this year, both were left closed as part of cost-savings measures.

A debate over maintaining or even upgrading existing rec centres versus replacing them with amalgamated multi-use centres in regional locations has brewed since late 2020 when budget planners left two facilities closed coming out of strict COVID rules.

Committee chair Coun. Ramona Robins said council will consider the issue more fully when the report is presented.

Committee member Coun. Alison Van Dyke told reporters the report has to consider community needs as well as long-term trends.

“We are looking at aging facilities, but we need them right now,” said Van Dyke. “We’re trying to determine right now, that we have an immediate need but a long-term visioning of what we want in the community and what we want in the future.”

On Monday, administrators said the facilities review will also outline need for new ball diamonds and soccer fields, but also the long-term needs of third parties and other assets located on city property.

That could include golf courses, but also the Medicine Hat Curling Club, and planning for a south-side swimming facility, potentially in conjunction with the YMCA of Medicine Hat, said Will.

Medicine Hat’s population may grow slightly over the next 30 years, he said, but the percentage of seniors will become more prominent, and that will change what facilities are needed or affordable.

Will says groups are requesting the Moose reopen to add to available ice time. Administrators say the facility would require $1.2 million in work to replace the slab and repair the cooling system before it could be safely opened to the public.

The Crestwood pool could reopen as is, but would need $5 million in repairs in seven years time.

Combined, the centres would add $900,000 to the operations budget – an option included in 2022 budget discussions earlier this month.

Administrators initially left them closed, stating the cost of implementing COVID safety and spacing measures would be wasted considering other facilities were operating well under capacity.

Now, the committee heard, there is demand for more ice time, but repairs couldn’t be completed until the summer months, leading to a potential reopening date of no sooner than next fall.

A new twinned arena would likely result in the closure of the Moose and Hockey Hounds arenas, both aging stand-alone rinks, but could potentially be coupled with a new curling facility.

A new indoor swim and fitness facility combined with potential outdoor water park would be evaluated, but officials said arranging land in new communities is key.

The South Ridge YMCA sits on city land and is operated in conjunction with the city, but planners say the space – lodged between two school buildings – provides no room for expansion.

Currently, most Medicine Hatters live more than 10 kilometres away from the Family Leisure Centre, now renamed the Big Marble Go Centre, in Crescent Heights.

Will also said a case can be made for upgrading Hill Pool, next to the Moose Rec Centre on the Southwest Hill, but Heights pool, next to the Hounds, was underused and needs major drainage upgrades.

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