Avondale Indoor Recreation

About six years ago, the first opinion I ever articulated as a political candidate: we should replace the Leisure Centre.

Last night, big progress was made! It was an exciting night for me. But there is lots of work to go.

With the demolition of the Leisure Centre, our region has lost 1/3 of its indoor field capacity. Additionally, we have never had a field large enough to support the highest levels of competition in a variety of sports. So along with other municipalities and sporting groups, Council has been talking a lot about indoor field space.

Earlier this month, Council endorsed borrowing up to $10,000,000 to build an indoor recreation facility. Last night, Council endorsed Avondale (ie: where the Leisure Centre and old Composite High School sit) as the site to build on.

Last Council term, I served on a joint Council/Public School Board Committee to plan for this site. And Council as a whole has put in a lot of work along with the community to plan for the future of this site.

This work has been important for many reasons. The land is adjacent to two high schools and close to other schools which need space for physical education programs. Residents on the north end of town deserve more access to indoor recreation. For the sake of both economic development and local community building, we should be able to host high caliber provincial and national events. And the Northeast corner of town is where we are likely to see future growth, so it needs good municipal facilities.

So I am glad to see that we are well positioned to start building something on this land as soon as the demolition of existing buildings is complete.

But there is still a lot of work to do:

• The current direction is to build an inflatable dome facility. Which could make sense. A dome is quick and relatively cost effective to build. And with a lifespan of 25ish years, it would hit end of life at about the same time as PWA: having both facilities age out at the same time could be beneficial to long term redevelopment of the land. But there are downsides to a dome including high utility costs, noise, aesthetics, and a short lifespan. Some analysis of other built forms (such as PVC fabric cladding) should be done prior to Council settling on a dome.

• Soccer, through the Swan City FC, has been the primary sport advocating for a new facility. But soccer has made it very clear that they don’t want something that only works for them. Which is very aligned with what I have heard from Council. We need to make sure that the field design thoughtfully considers a wide variety of sports.

• We need to figure out how large the facility should be and where exactly on the site it should go. As we do this, we need to think through additional uses. For example: I personally believe a pool should go on this site sometime in the future. We should make sure there is good opportunity for this on the site layout. And perhaps build the changerooms and reception area of the field space with a future aquatic expansion to it in mind.

• The Avondale neighbourhood was thoroughly consulted several years ago when we created the Avondale School Sites Area Redevelopment Plan. This Plan calls for indoor recreation on this site. So we have done most of the neighbourhood engagement necessary. But the neighbourhood should still be consulted on the specifics of what will get built and how the site will be laid out.

• This project will increase traffic pressures in the neighbourhood. There needs to be consideration given to punching Dewit Drive out to the 105 St lights on 116 Ave.

• In the past, Swan City FC has expressed a willingness to contribute to the capital requirements of a new facility. Swan City FC and other organisations have also expressed a desire to operate it. We need to be talking to these partners to figure out the best funding and ongoing operational models.

• Last but certainly not least: conversations with the County need to continue. City and County Councils have a very collaborative relationship that needs to apply to future indoor recreation. We need to be working together to be sure that whatever happens in Avondale is fully utilized and best for the region. But we should also be working together to do the same for the Crosslink Centre and Evergreen Park. Anything we build in Avondale needs to complement, not compete with, other regional facilities.

I’m looking forward to this work. I hope to see us start getting something up as soon as the land is available.

But as Council continues this conversation, I’d love to hear from you. What thoughts, questions or concerns do you have?

Thanks for reading!

Dylan