With North 性视界传媒 Recreation Centre shuttered and plans for a proposed YMCA facility scrapped, 性视界传媒 has turned its attention to creating a City Centre Sports Complex.

The $40.5-million facility would be part of an expanded , at 13458 107A Ave., with 鈥減roject engagement鈥� and design expected to begin sometime this year.

The first phase of City Centre Sports Complex is among the most expensive capital projects mentioned in , approved by city council in December.

鈥淭his facility will meet the growing recreation needs in the City Centre/North 性视界传媒 area,鈥� a report to council notes. 鈥淎dditional recreation amenities will consider all ages and abilities and will complement the existing facilities in the area. $0.5M in funding has also been allocated in 2024 for the design of a potential second phase of this project.鈥�

The approved city budget included a general property tax increase of 2.9 per cent, and a 200-per-cent increase in the capital parcel tax, to $300, to pay for such community projects.

Chuck Bailey rec centre currently features a basketball gym, fitness studio, meeting rooms and other recreation/community spaces.

Marion O鈥橞yrne, who discovered pickleball there six years ago, said the facility is too small for the area鈥檚 needs.

鈥淣orth 性视界传媒 has less and less recreational opportunities with the pool closure, rinks moved down the hill to Bridgeview and only has Chuck Bailey recreation centre, an excellent but very small centre with limited programs,鈥� O鈥橞yrne wrote in a letter to 性视界传媒鈥檚 mayor and council. 鈥淵oga is often held in the computer room for lack of space.鈥�

鈥� RELATED STORY: Pickleball players are sour about the lack of courts in North 性视界传媒 as game鈥檚 popularity grows.

The 54-year-old North 性视界传媒 Recreation Centre closed for good in December 2019, three months after the three-rink North 性视界传媒 Sport & Ice Complex opened near Scott Road SkyTrain station.

Meantime, the city was involved in plans to build a 性视界传媒 City Centre YMCA in the area, but that project was declared dead last May in a joint statement by YMCA of Greater Vancouver, the City of 性视界传媒 and SFU. 鈥淓scalating construction costs鈥� were to blame.

The project was to include a YMCA-SFU facility and high-density residential housing on the university鈥檚 性视界传媒 property. 鈥淪ince the project was first conceived by the YMCA and City of 性视界传媒 six years ago, costs have climbed to $75 million,鈥� according to a news release at the time.

鈥� READ MORE: 鈥楨scalating construction costs鈥� kill plan to build 性视界传媒 City Centre YMCA.

Former city councillor Bruce Hayne, ex-chair of the city鈥檚 parks and recreation committee, calls the collapse of the YMCA project plans 鈥渞eally unfortunate, because that was going to be a wonderful partnership with them.鈥�

He said the funding of $40.5 million for the proposed City Centre Sports Complex 鈥渨on鈥檛 build what most people would consider a sports complex.

鈥淭here will be no ice there, because that use has shifted to Scott Road, and a pool 鈥� the Y was going to build that, but you can鈥檛 build a pool in something for $40 million, you can鈥檛,鈥� Hayne said.

Among 性视界传媒鈥檚 latest capital projects, the biggest-ticket item is the $90-million Newton Community Centre, planned as a 75,000-square-foot facility in the 6900-block of King George Boulevard.

鈥� READ MORE: 性视界传媒 buying 16 properties in Newton for parkland, civic amenities.

Other top-dollar projects planned to get off the ground in 2021 include the $21-million Bear Creek Park Athletics Centre, and a $6-million track replacement and new artificial turf at South 性视界传媒 Athletic Park.

Also on the books, for work starting in 2022, is the $50-million Cloverdale Sport and Ice Complex, a twin-rink project 鈥減aused鈥� during budget discussions in 2019, not long after Mayor Doug McCallum鈥檚 Safe 性视界传媒 Coalition took control of city council.

鈥淛ust looking at this (list of capital projects), there鈥檚 basically nothing past 2022 or maybe 2023, in terms of a vision for the city,鈥� said Hayne, who is now the executive director of Boating BC Association. 鈥淭he Cloverdale ice complex, that鈥檚 coming in at $50 million starting in 2022, and that was to be finished for $35 million in 2018, you know. And because that got canned, and with construction costs that continue to go up and up and up, that project would have been finished, and now it鈥檚 going to cost $50 million and probably won鈥檛 be done until 2024.鈥�

Hayne noted that 性视界传媒鈥檚 current vision is quite different than what is outlined in 2017鈥檚 , an award-winning strategy created as a blueprint for determining such facility and service decisions through to 2027.

鈥淭here was a ton of work that went into that 10-year plan 鈥� so much time and effort, including staff time and volunteers, people in the community, and it was a pretty comprehensive plan,鈥� Hayne said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 satisfy everybody鈥檚 needs but it attempted to be as broad and supportive to all sorts of user groups, as many as possible. I think that (plan) is just collecting dust somewhere, because this current plan does not reflect at all what that parks and rec strategic plan looked like 鈥� and that includes not only rec centres and things like it, it鈥檚 green space and park space. The hard cost of putting a plan like that together may be relatively minimal, but it鈥檚 the human contribution 鈥� that鈥檚 huge.鈥�

tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
Like us on Follow us on and follow Tom on