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What is GamePLAN? Council to consider 25-year spending plan to fund rec facilities

'GamePLAN is that big question of, how do you meet the needs of a two-million-people city if all the services you have are from the '60s?' said Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott

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When it comes to recreational facilities, should the City of Calgary be making waves, going under or staying afloat?

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That’s the question city councillors will have to answer as they consider a new, long-term spending plan to address public recreation funding over the next two-plus decades.

The city is unveiling a 25-year strategic framework to fund recreational services and facilities until 2050 — a year the city’s population is anticipated to reach two million people.

Dubbed GamePLAN, the strategy will be introduced at council’s community services committee on Thursday for a preliminary presentation.

While city administration declined an interview request until they receive council’s direction, a statement from a spokesperson said the framework intends to “shape our approach to delivering inclusive, accessible and sustainable recreation services on the path to a population of two million people.”

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It will “guide future planning and investment decisions related to recreation services,” the spokesperson added.

“GamePLAN will help the city and partners better understand barriers and opportunities for creating positive outcomes for all Calgarians,” the statement read. “Working with service delivery partners, the city hopes to find new ways to help individuals and communities meet their goals through public recreation.”

Several rec facilities nearing end of useful life cycle

The plan, which has been in the works since 2022 and involved consultation with more than 6,000 residents, was motivated by Calgary’s aging public recreation infrastructure and recent facility closures.

Examples include the Beltline Aquatic and Fitness Centre, which closed in 2021, and the Inglewood Aquatic Centre, which was set to close in December before council voted to approve emergency funding to keep the facility open for another two years.

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A city staff report highlights that more than 70 per cent of Calgary’s public recreation facilities were built more than 35 years ago. Many have reached or are nearing the end of their useful life cycle — such as the Inglewood pool — and are becoming costly to maintain and operate.

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“GamePLAN is that big question of, how do you meet the needs of a two-million-people city if all the services you have are from the ’60s?” said Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott. “GamePLAN puts forth a plan to actually build out recreation facilities that will allow people to use them how they want to use them.”

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Compounding the challenge of facility closures is Calgary’s recent population growth, which the report suggests has resulted in oversubscribed demand for many services and programs, including everything from swim lessons to soccer leagues.

“Without sustainable investment, services will not be replaced or added elsewhere, leaving many people without access to sport, recreation and community,” the report states.

Calgary Minor Soccer
Goalkeepers take part in a camp run by Jordan Santiago and other top goalkeepers from Summit Goalkeeping at Calgary West Soccer Dome in northwest Calgary on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Calgary Minor Soccer has launched an advocacy campaign to highlight the urgent need for more indoor soccer facilities. Jim Wells/Postmedia

Make waves or go under?

On Thursday, committee members will be presented with three funding scenarios under GamePLAN — Going Under, Staying Afloat and Making Waves.

Each scenario represents an annual capital investment for recreational facilities: zero to $30 million for Going Under; $100 million to $150 million for Staying Afloat; and $200 million to $250 million for Making Waves.

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Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, who referenced GamePLAN in his recent failed notice of motion about supporting indoor soccer facilities, said the framework will ask council exactly how much it wants to prioritize public recreation — an area he argues has long been underfunded in Calgary.

“If you look at our incredible fleet of recreation facilities, we built most of them in the ’60s and ’70s, and then there was a multi-decade decline where we didn’t actually invest in everything until 2010 (when) we started that process again,” he said, referring to regional recreation centres on the outskirts of the city such as the Rocky Ridge and Seton YMCAs.

“We know that the fleet that we have is aging. We know that people recreate differently. We know that how you deliver recreation centres as more long-term, multi-use, multi-functional, changeable spaces is exactly what we need to do.”

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Carra said he wants council to approve the Making Waves option, which he argues is the only way to ensure Calgary has enough recreation facilities by 2050.

He argued that Staying Afloat would be akin to maintaining the status quo, whereas Going Under would “whittle away” at the city’s recreational offerings.

City of Calgary GamePLAN scenarios
The City of Calgary’s GamePLAN details three service level scenarios for recreation facilities that council will consider. Screenshot from the City of Calgary

“If we want to actually — instead of building to maintain what we have — build and improve and move into the future, Make Waves is what GamePLAN calls for,” he said Tuesday.

“I am all about making waves, and I hope my colleagues on council will support that as well.”

While the current council will start the conversation on GamePLAN, Carra stressed it will be the next council that ultimately decides which funding scenario to go with.

If council does not approve GamePLAN, the city warns that public recreation will “continue to operate in a reactive state” and Calgary will experience a rapid decline in rec services; more facilities would likely close without adequate replacement options and aging facilities would continue to put pressure on life-cycle funding.

sstrasser@postmedia.com

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