Don’t expect a new city community centre in southeast Barrie anytime soon.
While the 2024 capital budget shows nearly $40 million toward the estimated $191-million facility, its actual construction has many variables and unknowns, along with many ifs and buts.
Starting with the land on which to build it, land that has not yet been precisely located nor bought by the city.
Ward 9 Coun. Sergio Morales says it’s to be located in the city’s southeast to meet future residential growth there.
“While its current location is planned to be in Ward 9, it could go anywhere in the Ward 9 or south Ward 8 or Ward 10 area,” he said.
What that land will cost is also unknown.
“It’s a moving target,” Morales said. “Land costs fluctuate not just up but lately also down, and the scope and hence the cost of the centre will also change depending on the size and type of land acquired.”
Mayor Alex Nuttall noted this is a community centre that’s been a city commitment for 25 years, going back to the recreation master plan in 1999 or 2000.
“It just seems to keep getting pushed back, and so we’ve allocated funding inside of the budget this year (2024) to actually secure the land so that we can build the rec centre,” he said. “As soon as the land is secured, our engineering and our facilities and recreation folks (city staff) will start actually planning out the facility on that specific piece of property, but we need to have the land secured in order to do all of the rest of the stuff.
“We don’t have land at this point, no," Nuttall added.
The facilities will be based on the Peggy Hill Team Community Centre (formerly the Holly Community Centre) model.
“We obviously want not just a recreation centre, as the south end is in need of more field facilities, whether they be baseball diamonds or soccer fields or cricket pitches," Nuttall said. “I think the goal is to create a recreation facility not just in terms of a building, but an entire park.”
The city’s most recent plans for Hewitt’s community centre and library have a gross floor area of 239,946 square feet — recreation: 224,554 sq. ft and library: 15,392 sq. ft. It would include a twin ice pad arena, a 10-lane, 25-metre pool, as well as a leisure pool and therapy pool, fitness centre, gymnasium, library, multi-purpose rooms, rental or partner space, support and amenity spaces, outdoor space which could include a soccer field, tennis/pickleball courts, basketball courts, a splash pad, playground and skate park.
As identified in the 2019 to 2028 capital plan, the net annual operating cost for the facility is anticipated to be approximately $2 million.
Barrie’s 2024 capital budget shows $22,383,000 from development charges (DC) reserves toward the Hewitt’s community centre. DCs are fees developers pay, and are designed to recover the capital costs associated with residential and non-residential (commercial, industrial, institutional) growth within a municipality so that existing residents don’t have to foot the bill.
There’s also $17.37 million from the city’s cash in lieu of parkland reserve in that capital budget. Developers must convey land for a park or other public recreational purposes, or pay cash (which goes into a reserve) in lieu of giving this land, as a condition of development or redevelopment.
That brings 2024’s total funding to $39.75 million in the capital budget, approved by city council Dec. 6, for Hewitt’s community centre.
The facility’s total cost, again detailed in the 2024 capital budget, is $191.352 million.
The funding schedule shows not only $39.75 million in 2024, but $31.5 million in 2025, $50 million in each of 2026 and 2027, and $20 million in 2028, the majority from DCs. There is also $102,000 in previously approved funds from DC reserves and the city’s tax capital reserve.
