I am very disappointed with city council’s decision to “hit the brakes” on the Active Communities recreation campus. As a resident and parent with children active in sports, particularly hockey, I have experienced firsthand the limited access to recreation facilities particularly for SAMHA (one of the largest minor hockey associations in Western Canada). Demand for access to rinks has increased, but only one rink has been built in the past 25 years within St. Albert – access to ice remains challenging. On top of that, other sports groups such as soccer, lacrosse, baseball, fastball and pickleball would benefit from increased access to the gymnasium included in this project. Servus Place is very heavily utilized, particularly between January and April, of course, additional gymnasium or ‘dry-pad space’ access will broadly benefit the active community that we have in St. Albert. Now due to the city administration’s recommendation, four years of effort has been lost by Active Communities to this cause.
Active Communities, a non-profit group consisting of a board of directors, with close ties to St. Albert, has a plan that would benefit the recreation users and taxpayers of St. Albert. At first, quick progress was made in their proposal toward obtaining promises of financial support both federally and provincially, additionally, land for the centre was offered through a generous donation. Secondly, their plan is to operate the recreation centre based on a community foundation operated model employed for decades by many recreation facilities in Calgary and across Alberta, however, this approach would be innovative for St. Albert. Active Communities would target operating the facility at a cost-neutral basis which is better than the million-dollar-plus operating loss per year currently experienced at Servus Place.
As a concerned citizen, taxpayer and an active member in the St. Albert community, I see benefits in the service Active Communities has proposed to the people of St. Albert. I ask fellow concerned citizens who support this project to approach council to voice their support. And I ask city council and the city administration to explain why they are not pursuing this project considering that community association model of managing recreation centers is successfully done throughout the province.
Sean Stewart, St. Albert
