Amid rising deferred maintenance costs and a lack of revenue generated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bragg Creek Community Centre is facing an uncertain future.
In November 2020, the Bragg Creek Community Association (BCCA) published a letter on its website, informing hamlet residents of the issues the aging facility is facing.
“When the BCCA board reviews the status of the centre and our finances and projects our future; the reality we must face is that the centre’s future is not good,” wrote BCCA’s board president, Alannah Turner. “As our memberships continue to decline and we continue to use our reserves to maintain the centre, we must ask you – our community – if you wish for the centre to continue operating in Bragg Creek.”
Reached in March, Turner said the letter four months ago was a call-out for Bragg Creekers. She said if residents care about the centre’s future, they should consider buying or renewing a $25 annual BCCA membership – $40 a year for families.
In 2019-2020, Turner said the BCCA sold $3,215 worth of annual memberships, which is equivalent to about 80 family passes. While memberships alone don’t offset the costs of operating the centre, she said they are a reflection of the venue’s importance to the community members.
She said alternative ways to support the centre include making a donation to BCCA, volunteering, or bringing ideas to the association to make the centre more viable.
“The building itself still costs the same amount of money every year – even when we’re not running programs and events in it,” she said. “There has been very little we’ve been able to do to reduce those costs, and our maintenance costs continue to increase because of the age of the building.”
Turner said Rocky View County (RVC) recently commissioned a lifecycle study for the 20-year-old building, which was conducted in September 2020 by Stephenson Engineering Ltd. According to Turner, that audit revealed the Bragg Creek Community Centre had a Facility Condition Index (FCI) score of 29.26, indicating the building requires further capital investment.
“Things like doors, frames, HVAC systems, roofing systems are starting to age, and are therefore not as reliable,” she said. “Not to mention hot-water taps, urinals, toilets and all those other things that are required for the building.”
An FCI refers to the difference of outstanding deferred maintenance versus the current replacement value of an asset times 100, according to Turner. She said an FCI score between 10 and 30 is considered poor, while anything above 30 is considered critical. As the FCI gets higher, Turner said the assets are expected to have a higher risk of component failure, increased maintenance and operating costs, and greater negative impacts to staff and patrons.
While Turner said the centre is an important community hub for Bragg Creek, the facility has mostly been closed to the public since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That means community events, live concerts, theatre performances and group fundraisers have not been able to be held there in the last year. Nor, she added, have the facility’s revenue-generating programs been able to operate in the last year, such as fitness and dance classes.
“We can’t host community events and have our community in the centre right now, which makes it triply harder to stay top of mind for people’s memberships or any donations for consideration of the fact that, even though our doors are closed, it still costs money for that building to be there,” Turner said.
In terms of grant funding, Turner said the BCCA applied for an operating grant from RVC on March 1 and will apply for a capital grant in November. Her letter from November indicated the BCCA has seen a recent decrease in funding from the County.
“The reality is, you have to recognize RVC has several different recreational facilities they provide support to with tax dollars and we may not be on top of the list,” she said. “As a concept, we shouldn’t fully be reliant on RVC, but we are [very] reliant on them.”
Since publishing the BCCA’s letter last fall, Turner said there has been an uptick in Bragg Creekers who have renewed or purchased annual memberships for the community centre – despite the inability to actually use the facility due to COVID-related restrictions. However, she noted the venue is still struggling and its future remains up in the air.
“We need to see what our community wants to see with the community centre, as far as its future,” she said.
“In this time of COVID, it’s very difficult. It’s such a struggle now, [but] we can’t lose sight of the fact we need to have a place for the community to come together, even though we can’t physically come together right now.”
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
