By Sheldon Spackman and Troy Gillard

Stamp Of Approval

BUDGET: Council approves capital budget, G.H. Dawe Community Centre expansion

Dec 2, 2020 | 6:16 PM

Red Deer city council has approved the 2021 Capital Budget for $218.7 million.

Highlighting budget deliberations on Wednesday was the approval of funding for improvements to the G.H. Dawe Community Centre by a 7-2 vote.

City officials say the enhancements planned will improve access to the facility, increase opportunity to modernize fitness and programming, provide additional outdoor amenities including a spray park and washroom facilities, and modernize the current ice surface, as well as adding a second surface.

The addition of a second ice surface is in replacement of the current Kinex Arena, which is at the end of its life and will begin to be decommissioned as no further capital funding was approved for repairs and replacements at the facility.

The total budget for the Dawe project is $43.3 million with just over $15.1 million in federal funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) grant and $12.9 million from the Province of Alberta through Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding.

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On Wednesday, city council approved the 2021 and 2022 municipal portion of the project budget for $7.566 million, having approved $7.739 million in previous capital budgets.

The modernization and improvement of the G.H. Dawe Community Centre focuses on areas and aspects of the facility which were not upgraded as part of the G.H. Dawe Community Centre Revitalization Project in 2008.

The options for modernization and improvements that city council has now approved are as follows:

• To meet ice user needs with the decommissioning of the Kinex Arena: o modernization of the existing ice surface to NHL standard size
• twinning of existing arena
• relocate underground services to facilitate the twin
• To meet parking, site servicing and egress requirements:
• introduce right in and right out site access off of 67 Street for improved traffic flow and parking
• create facility access on the north side of the facility
• To align with Phase 2 of the 2007 G.H. Dawe Master Plan:
• review fitness/programming and barrier-free access opportunities
• outdoor spray park and outdoor washroom facility

“Proceeding with the G.H. Dawe Community Centre project right now enables the community to benefit from economies of scale while stimulating our local economy at a time when our community needs it most,” said Mayor Tara Veer. “We are in the position of having predictable federal and provincial funding in place, and approval of the municipal portion ensures we can maintain the current asset, while ensuring sustained levels of service for our user groups, citizens and the community as a whole.”

“There will also be operational efficiencies realized by decommissioning the Kinex which is not in the public interest to repair,” added Veer.

Councillors Tanya Handley and Vesna Higham voted against the Dawe project.

Higham said a new aquatic centre should be the higher priority right now.

“In times of economic hardship and austerity, we need to prioritize large capital projects based on the greatest identified need in our community,” said Higham. “And our community has spoken loudly and clearly about what is the greatest community need at this point. The aquatic centre is absolutely priority one from a community standpoint.”

Councillor Ken Johnston took strong exception, however, that approving the Dawe project would be a vote against a new aquatic centre.

“This is not the ‘ice people versus the pool people’ decision,” he exclaimed. “That pool is way, way overdue, but we won’t win it on the back of turning down this amenity.”

Councillor Buck Buchanan echoed those sentiments.

“For me, it’s not an either or,” he explained. “It’s just, what’s the best thing for the people of Red Deer, and this is it. It’s 10 years overdue, so let’s get at it.”

Construction on the project will begin in 2021 with completion of the additional second ice surface triggering the decommissioning of the Kinex Arena. Under the requirements of the Federal ICIP grant, the project must be complete by October 31, 2027.