When it comes to creating new recreational facilities in a community there tends to be a few tried and true methods to achieve the goal.
Perhaps too often we simply look to the local municipal government to spend the money, which might seem logical since a new recreation facility, whether a hockey arena, an art gallery, or a performance theatre is a benefit to the community as a whole, and is generally seen as something which should be accessible to all.
Certainly on the Canadian Prairies that is the way of building most of the higher costs facilities at least, especially hockey arenas, curling rinks and swimming pools. We have seen that approach here in Yorkton often, including the Gallagher Centre additions and improvements at a cost of near $25 million a few years back, and the Gloria Hayden Centre building before that.
Now the case might be made that private business should take on a larger role, and there are instances of privately-owned hockey arenas around.
However the ability for business to turn a profit on such facilities in anything but the largest of Prairie cities would be difficult. In instances where losing money on year-to-year operations is almost a guarantee it is pretty difficult to envision private business stepping up to the plate.
There are of course examples private business can hold its own in the area of operating recreation facilities. While the City of Yorkton has struggled through the years to manage Deer Park Municipal Golf Course in a way that it is able to cover its operational costs and deal with its capital needs too, many golf courses are privately held, and one has to assume most manage some profit or they would be changing hands a lot more often.
Then there are the instances where local groups take the initiative and initiate fundraising for projects which tend to end up owned by the City, but where the costs come from outside sources.
The recently opened Wiggly Field Dog Walk Park is the most recent example, but the list includes the extensive fundraising for the disabled access playground equipment installed in the city, and the notable work which went into launching the downtown skateboard park.
It is a win-win situation when an idea for a needed recreational facility comes from the grassroots, people with at least a share of the money in-hand, making any project more palatable for the City to then become involved in.
It is likely if new dressing rooms for the Yorkton Terriers, and other hockey teams in the city are going to move forward, it will need to be spear-headed by someone outside municipal government. If such a group can show community support for the project by offering up a big chunk of the costs through donations, the City will likely jump on-side, or look quite suspect if they refuse involvement.
Generally, community initiatives come from the roots up, but there might be an opportunity to local governments to reverse the process to good effect.
Whether its city’s such as Yorkton and Melville, or smaller communities such as Esterhazy, Kamsack, or Preeceville, there are never enough dollars to do everything they might like to carry out. That is especially true in terms of recreation where there is always something new which could be added, whether a new ball diamond, outdoor skating rink, disc golf course, dog walk park, or additional skateboard jumps.
Usually municipalities look at the list of needs, prioritize the list to bring it in line with annual budgets, and do what they can from the list as finances arise. When there is no money left in the budget, projects get shelved until the next budget process.
But, maybe the project communities want but are short on dollars for should be shared with the community in some way. If a municipal government were to tell its residents they would like to build recreation facility ‘A’, but would need the community to step up with ‘X’ dollars to see it proceed immediately, they might well find people ready to take on the fundraising to see the project move forward.
Too often good ideas get stalled based on tight municipal budgets, but those municipalities might find community support if they were simply more proactive in telling the community they need some help.
