An artist's rendering of a possible future Parkinson Recreation Centre.
Image Credit: Submitted/City of Kelowna
April 12, 2023 - 4:57 PM
An update of plans to replace Kelowna’s aging Parkinson Recreation Centre going to city council next week show it could include three gyms, a 10-lane, 25-metre swimming pool and affordable housing.
The cost is expected to be more than $150 million but that will be slightly offset by about $13 million from a B.C. government grant.
The money comes from the BC Growing Communities Fund which is a one-time grant to all municipalities and regional districts in the province to "increase local housing supply through the investment in community infrastructure and amenities," says a report going to council on Monday, April 17.
The city got $26.2 million from the fund and council will be asked to designate half that money to decrease debt servicing costs for the Parkinson Recreation rebuild.
A separate report outlines key design features for the proposed new building that will be about 100,000 square feet larger than the existing structure.
One of the aims is to “prioritize social spaces and serve as the ‘community living room,’” that report says. “It must have a sufficiently sized lobby with additional social spaces scattered throughout.”
An artist's rendering of a possible lobby to the new facility.
Image Credit: Submitted/City of Kelowna
It will have community kitchen capable of supporting large scale events and the facility will have to be able to host tournaments.
Staff are asking council to direct them to "identify an opportunity to deliver demonstration affordable housing units on the Parkinson Recreation Centre site in partnership with other levels of government," the report says.
But, most importantly, it will greatly expand recreational facilities.
Staff suggest building one competition gym and two recreation gyms along with a walking/running track and a fitness centre. That will account for almost half the expansion at 48,000 extra square feet.
The pool area would expand by about 22,500 square feet for the 10-lane swimming pool and a leisure and wellness/therapy pool.
General programming adds 11,430 square feet and customer service almost 10,000 square feet.
The report does not refer to any current cost estimates – the price has gone up from $50 million in 2015 to more than $150 million today.
READ MORE: COVID has added $100 million in expenses for Kelowna's long range construction plans
“The key objective will be to create a sustainable financing strategy focusing on minimizing costs to taxpayers, while maintaining the service levels and priorities asked for by city council and our community,” the report says, adding that staff don’t see any increase in operating costs because of increased revenue generation.
The plan is to bring an “elector approval strategy” to council before the end of the year as well as confirming the cost of the project.
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