Continuation of two earlier compilation entries
By MARK SCHADENBERG
My difficulty in having a seat at City Council is that in-turn I really should make my documents made public here act simply as a set of facts with very little opinion. However, I will begin with the understood premise that the 1969-built Civic Centre Arena at the Woodstock Fairgrounds must be (should be) replaced quite soon. (Two blogs ago was my background piece on the history of local arenas.)
The Civic Centre is 55 years old and there is a long list of ineptitude items on its amenity list -- the City owns the property but not much more than the space the cinder-block building occupies plus some of the parking lot in front of the (built backwards) rink. The dressing rooms are too small, but foremost the accessibility has become an issue in a day-and-age where walkways, doors, turning spaces, bathrooms, and safety are expected to be at a higher AODA compliance level. A municipality should exceed regulations -- be above-and-beyond. There are a couple places at the Civic pad where boards are plexi-glass so someone in a wheelchair can watch. That is unacceptable, along with the width of the walkway from the players' benches to the corner office, and of course no access to the second-floor corner office as it only has stairs.
The last 3 feasibility studies pertaining to recreation facilities ands needs in the City have pointed out the discrepancies at the Civic Centre. It's time to move on.
It can be said that I love the fairgrounds location -- more central than the Cowan Fields complex in the northeast by Devonshire and the continuation of Springbank. Civic Centre is closer to shopping and restaurants as well.
However, the City is prepared to place many more features at Cowan Fields, which already has a splash pad, playground equipment, 3 ball diamonds, a trail for connectivity, and (under landscaping phases right now) a regulation cricket field. Cowan Fields could be the focus destination. Since Cowan Fields became a reality there has been a long list of suggested and hinted-at recreation facilities including, but not limited to, a fourth ice surface, outdoor basketball, tennis, another ball diamond, swimming pool (indoor or outdoor), indoor gymnasium, a curling club, plus interesting possibilities such as pickleball courts (Recent addition to list due to huge demand), beach volleyball, and perhaps even a daycare centre.
I'm not going to break down all the dollars, cents and sense as the just-released Monteith Brown consultants report does an amazing job on that task and its attached here as a cut-and-paste pdf. The writer of a good portion of the study is originally from Woodstock in Anand Desai. Read the report and be sure to watch the council video from Nov. 7.
Keep in mind, nothing will be built overnight and the City has other projects on the horizon and the current additions at both South Gate Centre and the Engineering office. I add in the current dredging of Southside Pond project as it's well overdue. Earlier in the calendar, the City completed its renovation of the west end of the Market Theatre building and its now the headquarters for economic development, business improvement area staff, small business centre, along with human resources and downtown bylaw administration. This list proves that City Hall itself will require in the next decade an addition as well.
Naturally it can not be forgotten that there is an approved Dundas Streetscape plan to begin in the spring of 2025.
Municipal budgets for 2025 (Capital and Operating) will begin their dissecting by council and senior staff later this month.
All projects require a minimum of 4 of 7 votes to happen, and when the majority has made an affirmative decision that ruling becomes automatically 'a consensus of council'. Also, someone who voted against a spending proposal is not able to re-open discussions, but someone who voted in favour is permitted to change their mind and re-introduce a motion to reverse a previous decision.
This note will include prognosticating pictures of possibilities but keep in mind none of it has been approved. The City CAO has continued a long tradition of maintaining an on-going 5-year rolling budget but only the lines with a 2024 heading have been approved for 2024. Therefore, something earmarked for 2027 could happen quicker in 2026, and vice versa a envisioned venture for 2026 maybe could be pushed back to 2027 or could possibly never happen.
In the meantime, I'm excited about all conceivable hypotheticals as the City advances to being home to more facilities for its citizens. Yes, there is a cost attached and it's easy to utilize development charges from growth for a 4th arena, but not to replace an existing arena. Another combination to the puzzle is that this rec complex could be constructed over 3 or 4 phases.
The City can not make a Friendly City plea to County Council for money as recreation facilities are in the lower tier of responsibilities.
Also, and here's the community commitment -- when the community complex on Finkle was built in the mid-1990s the fundraising committee raised $3 million for a $13.5 million twin-pad arena with a gymnastics centre and a community hall. Somehow a local contingent of leisure and recreation folks must bond together and begin raising interest and money in a separate account from industry, user groups, and other citizens. Any grant writing will be done by the City because we now have the feasibility studies penned which prove the necessity.
LINKS:
https://pub-woodstock.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=2122
https://www.cityofwoodstock.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/PDFs/ParksRec/Woodstock-Recreation-Facility-Needs-Study_Final.pdf
https://www.cityofwoodstock.ca/en/city-governance/municipal-studies-and-plans.aspx
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