Limited space at community recreation complexes is not a new issue. Whether it involves hockey players travelling out of town for ice time, community teams waiting until late at night for gym time, or too few lanes for swimming lessons, there never seems to be enough space.
Recreation facilities are difficult issues in any community. Populations continue to grow and arena, pools, and multiplexes do not come cheap and often operate at a loss. That means taxpayers not only pick up the tab for construction but also a portion of the operating costs. For some the notion of contributing to other peoples’ interests is the cost of living in a community – for others it is an outrage. It is for that reason that these facilities usually drum up so much controversy.
Before the end of the year, council approved the construction of a new arena and library space. While the arena floated through with little public push back the library was not so lucky.
Now, fresh into the new year, pool users have surfaced to lament the long wait-lists for swimming lessons in the city. It demonstrates there is always more need but not necessarily more money. While user-group fundraising and private/public partnerships could help with the funding issues in the long term, changes in policy might be a solution in the short term.
The space crunch in St. Albert – similar to other communities – is compounded by the fact city users have to compete with people from the surrounding area who also want to take advantage of programs. That added population base puts a lot of extra strain on the use of city facilities. In the case of city pools, city residents complain that they are pushed onto the wait-list as a result. That causes some ire among those who think St. Albert taxpayers should get first crack at St. Albert facilities. While the city does not track specifically where registrants are from, it did confirm there is a mix of residents and non-residents using city facilities and about 41 per cent of pool program users are non-residents.
Other cities in Canada have either discussed or set policies to give their residents first dibs at programs in city-owned facilities – something the St. Albert does not currently do. This should be the course of action the city should consider. Currently, the city does not have a joint-use agreement for recreation facilities with any surrounding communities. So while residents from outside the city might pay program fees, they are not contributing to the upkeep and overall operation to city facilities to the same extent as city taxpayers. For that reason alone, St. Albertans should be given priority to city programs, especially when space is limited.
A system that could be considered is one that gives preference to resident users. For example, an early bird registration process could be opened to residents only. Once that initial deadline passes, registration opportunities can then be given to non-residents to fill the remaining spots. St. Albertans deserve some priority at the facilities and programs they support with their tax dollars.
