A new vision for the South Cariboo Recreation Centre is one step closer to completion.
The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) has awarded a contract for concept design services to HCMA Architecture + Design from Vancouver. The firm was one of six responses to the concept design request for proposals. The firm and its lead architect, Paul Fast, have experience designing similar recreation centres, including the new gymnasium at Duchess Park Secondary School in Prince George, an indoor running track in Port Moody and a soccer stadium in Montreal.
The South Cariboo Recreation Centre Expansion Working Group met with HCMA during the week of April 7 to discuss the concept design.
The expansion will include an indoor field with artificial grass, a gymnasium equipped with volleyball and basketball capabilities, as well as a walking track. The initial plan will connect the new building, to be built where the current Stan Halco arena stands, to the curling rink and the arena.
The expansion is part of an effort to encourage young professionals to move to and stay in the South Cariboo.
"When the CRD was doing the updates for the official community plan, the consultant we hired went and talked to students at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary and he asked them several questions, but one in particular: What could be something that 100 Mile could do to encourage you to either stay here after graduation and get a job in 100 Mile, or, if you had to go away from 100 Mile for post-secondary education, to come back to 100 Mile. The first thing was better connectivity, which is something I think we all wish for, the second thing was an indoor sports facility," says CRD Area H director and working group spokesperson, Margo Wagner.
"Right now, 100 Mile is at a boom. We have a lot of people coming to town, we're at a 100 per cent vacancy rate. We need to have facilities that are going to attract people to stay and we have long winters here," says Wagner.
The indoor recreation centre would allow people to get exercise without being put off by the snow, she says. Interest, she says, has come from many different corners, including the Age-Friendly Society, and many of the different recreation groups from around town.
Wagner says the new recreation centre will be easier and more affordable to maintain than a swimming pool, something the board has considered in the past.
Wagner says the goal is to complete the concept design phase by the beginning of July, so that the CRD has the ability to apply for federal grant money to help with the construction process.
The concept design process marks an important step in the process of bringing an expanded recreation centre to the South Cariboo, however, the concept design will require approval from the CRD and the District of 100 Mile House, and will have to pass an extensive public consultation process as well as a referendum before being built.
If there is enough enthusiasm for the project during the consultation phase, the referendum vote will be held in the spring of 2018.
While the expansion will come at some cost to voters within the South Cariboo Recreation Service area, Wagner says the benefits are numerous.
"You live in the community, you don't want the community to die. We already are already the oldest community per capita, and if you want to have an active hospital, you want to have doctors, lawyers, dentists, you've got to attract them with something," she says.
Wagner says she hopes people will approach the consultations and the referendum vote with an open OVERSET FOLLOWS:mind.
"Try to look at the bigger aspect. 100 Mile is growing, the surrounding area is growing and it won't continue growing if we don't have recreation facilities, because recreation has become probably the number one attraction — that and affordable prices — to get people to move to an area."