Is the City of New Westminster on the right track with plans for a new aquatics and community centre project?
The city is seeking input on its plan to replace the Canada Games Pool and the Centennial Community Centre with a new facility. In December, council supported in principle an 114,295-square-foot building that would include aquatics, fitness and community spaces.
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks and recreation, said the city has held many consultation sessions and informal pop-ups at events like Easter in the Park and Family Day and found the public to be “overwhelmingly” supportive of the project.
“‘We really like what we are seeing’ and ‘How soon can you get started?’ are the two themes that are coming up,” he said. “Of course, on a person-by-person basis there is fine-grained details, but, overarching, the response from the community has been very, very positive and they are optimistic about seeing something actually get going. It’s been a good exercise.”
In an effort to gauge whether it’s on the right track with the future aquatics and community centre, the city is inviting community members to attend two final consultation sessions this weekend: Friday, April 6 from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. (to catch the early birds) at Canada Games Pool; and Saturday, April 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Centennial Community Centre. Until April 27, citizens can also provide feedback at www.youractivenw.ca/survey.
“While these are the last two formal sessions for the general public to show up and engage with our staff and the consulting team, the online piece will still go until April 27,” Gibson said. “If they miss one of these opportunities, they can still engage with the city’s website or the project website, and there’s all kinds of resources and tools and ways to provide feedback on that as well.”
The city, which is aiming to begin construction in 2020, said preliminary estimates indicate the project could cost $100 million. Detailed design work and studies, including environmental and transportation studies, need to be done to provide a more accurate budget.
In December, council endorsed construction of the new facility in a single phase.
The option supported by council allows the existing pool and community centre to remain open during construction but may require the recycling depot and all-weather field to be relocated.
Gibson said the report presented to council in December included a “menu” of items to be included in the new aquatics facility and community centre, based on input received from the public in 2016 and 2017.
“The question we are out asking in the community right now is, based on the information that’s in that feasibility report, did we, the city, get it right?,” he said. “Do we have the things included in the facility – again at a high level – that are resonating with the needs and aspirations of individual citizens that live in the city?”
Staff will compile community input and information from technical studies and report back to council in late May or June.
“This is a very significant project for the community that is going to have impacts for the next 40 to 60 years. We certainly want to be as inclusive of the sentiments of the community in our final report back to council,” Gibson said. “In short, if you think other people in the community are showing up and speaking on your behalf, that would not be, I think, a good assumption. We want to hear from as many people as we can and hear from them directly, either by coming to our open houses or by participating through the various mechanisms that we have online.”
