As the need for a local community centre in Springbank continues to grow, advocacy among area residents is continuing in hopes of finally securing the much-needed amenity.
According to Karin Hunter, president of the Springbank Community Association (SCA), the community centre in Springbank is ranked second on Rocky View County’s (RVC) Recreational Masterplan’s capital projects to-do list.
The ball has started rolling, as a stakeholder committee that includes a number of community representatives including the SCA, elected officials, and other appointees had its first meeting earlier this month.
Hunter said the stakeholder committee will meet again in December, and that meetings will take place until March 2022. After meetings have concluded, she said hopefully more decisions will be made on the future of the project.
“The meetings are to get a good sense of what the centre would include and its size, is my understanding,” she said.
The SCA, along with a number of other community members, has been lobbying for a new gymnasium facility for nearly a decade, according to Hunter.
“Things started to heat up in 2015 and 2016, when we were really trying to move things ahead,” she said. “We have invested our own money into a business case that was completed in 2020. We are looking at that as an example of what this could look like in the end.”
Currently, Springbank’s main recreational amenity is the Springbank Park for All Seasons, which is attached to Springbank Community High School. The facility includes ice-skating and curling rinks, an indoor baseball training facility, a dryland training area, beach volleyball courts, and outdoor sports fields, including baseball diamonds, and soccer and football fields.
The need for another facility has only grown since the Springbank Community Hall was condemned in May 2018. Plans for a new centre would include both a gymnasium space and a banquet hall, along with other amenities to ensure residents have all of the necessary facilities moving forward.
“Right now, the community doesn’t really have a place to gather,” Hunter said. “We are excited that this is moving forward, and we are interested to see where this goes.
“We’d really like a place where our kids could gather after school and play games, hang out, and have opportunities for families to come together.”
While there is a positive outlook right now as meetings move forward, Hunter said she hopes RVC will honour prior commitments, such as a previous budget allotment to help see the project through.
There was also $10 million previously granted from the provincial government as compensation for the Springbank Off-stream Reservoir project that has been specifically earmarked toward recreation in Springbank.
“That definitely helps in getting this a long way off the ground, provided council honours that commitment to the community,” Hunter said. “It’s more of a reality now than it has been ever.”
RVC Mayor Don Kochan, who is also the Division 2 representative and area councillor for much of Springbank, said while there has been a committee reviewing the business case for a rec facility, he doesn’t believe there is anything new to report in terms of advancements on a local community centre.
Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @jaystrickz
