12 hours Ago By Brandon Sun
If anybody doubted the Kinew government’s commitment to ensuring that a new Park Community Centre becomes a reality, Thursday morning’s announcement of $6 million in provincial funding for the project goes a long way toward dispelling that concern. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support.
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If anybody doubted the Kinew government’s commitment to ensuring that a new Park Community Centre becomes a reality, Thursday morning’s announcement of $6 million in provincial funding for the project goes a long way toward dispelling that concern. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion If anybody doubted the Kinew government’s commitment to ensuring that a new Park Community Centre becomes a reality, Thursday morning’s announcement of $6 million in provincial funding for the project goes a long way toward dispelling that concern. With Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett and several supporters of the plan standing behind him, Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard — who, as Brandon East MLA, represents the downtown neighbourhood where Park Community Centre is located — confirmed that the funding is in place for a redeveloped facility that will include a licensed, non-profit child-care facility with 62 new spaces.
“Today’s announcement gets us closer to the goal of providing Brandon with services its families are looking for,” he said. Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard (Brandon East) announces $6 million toward the construction of a new Park Community Centre and non-profit child-care facility in Brandon on Thursday. The government is to be commended on supplying such a large portion of the required funds, but the announcement leaves some unanswered questions — including where the rest of the money will come from.
(Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun files) In response to questions from the media, he emphasized that “We’ve put in the $6 million that is showing a really strong commitment to get this thing done ...
We have strong partners with the city and with the YMCA who helped us work on this, and we’re making sure that we just don’t get to the finish line, but that we blow past it.” Given the positive response of the dozens of people present at the announcement, it is clear that Simard’s optimism and commitment is appreciated by those community members who have fought to save the community centre. It is hard, however, to ignore a number of questions that arise from Thursday’s announcement.
For starters, neither Simard nor Fawcett were able to estimate how soon tenders for the project would be issued, let alone dates when construction would commence and be completed. Given the impact that inflation can have on construction costs, the longer it takes to complete the new facility, the more expensive it will likely be. Second, and closely related to the previous point, is the reality that the project is now expected to cost millions of dollars more than originally expected.
During Thursday’s gathering, Fawcett suggested the total cost could exceed $9 million. If that is the case — the true number will not be known until the tenders are issued — the $6 million pledged by the province and $1.2 million committed by the city will not cover the entire cost.
It is unclear where that extra funding needed to close the shortfall would come from. Third, and following up on the previous point, Park Community Centre is not the only Brandon community centre in need of replacement. Notwithstanding the pronounced need for such neighbourhood facilities and the child-care spaces they would provide, is it economically feasible to even contemplate the construction of multiple community centres in the city at that cost per facility? If the long-term goal is to ensure that all 10 wards in the city each eventually have a new community centre that also offers child care, a comprehensive plan is required that sets target dates for construction and stipulates how those facilities will be financed.
Such a plan does not currently exist at city hall, but is obviously needed. Simard and Premier Wab Kinew deserve tremendous credit for their commitment to ensuring the Park Community Centre project becomes a reality. During the 2023 election campaign, they promised $1 million in funding, and now they are stepping up with much more than that.
That said, the project would never have reached this point without the unwavering commitment of many members of the surrounding neighbourhood, supported by allies throughout the city. Without their perseverance and optimism that a favourable outcome would eventually be reached, the centre would have been demolished years ago and never replaced. Perhaps that is the most important of the many lessons to be learned from the Park Community Centre saga.
If you love your neighbourhood and are committed to its long-term sustainability, there will be times when the neighbourhood must step up and speak up as a team — as a family focused on ensuring a better, brighter future for their neighbourhood and its residents. That’s what members of the neighbourhood served by Park Community Centre have done. By doing so, they are setting an example for other neighbourhoods in similar circumstances to emulate.
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