After hearing that Parkinson Recreation Centre (PRC) is âfunctionally obsoleteâ, city council, at its May 15 regular meeting, directed staff to proceed with a funding strategy to replace the facility.
âWhat Iâm hearing from the general public is letâs get on with it,â said Coun. Luke Stack. âWeâve been talking about it for eight years now, itâs time to move it forward.â
The PRC redevelopment is expected to cost at least $180 million, with an additional $62 million for site and offsite works.
Coun. Ron Cannan said while he believes investment in recreation is paramount for the community, he is advocating being more fiscally conservative.
âIâd like to see a rebuild of PRC but I donât believe it needs to be triple the size,â he added.
READ MORE: Âé¶čAV council approves new KCC to be built next to Apple Bowl
Cannan also pointed out that the price has gone up by tens of millions of dollars over the past several years.
Staff expressed concern that if the city waits further to redevelop PRC, the cost will skyrocket.
âInflation will happen continually,â said Derek Edstrom, divisional director of partnerships and investments. âIf we wait another five or 10 years this is going to dramatically increase as well.â
Coun. Stack said citizens want more when it comes to sports and recreation.
âWe simply do not have enough today. Even if we give this the go-ahead today, weâre still talking years before theyâre actually useable.â
As well, $36 million has been set aside for the Glenmore and Mission activity centres, $4.5 million for Rutland Recreation Park and $5 million for partnerships with UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College.
The total is $287.5 million.
Of that amount, the city will need to borrow $241.32 million, but it also includes capital taxation, reserves, and grants.
There are $13 million in grant funds included in the strategy, which is coming from the $26 million Growing Communities Fund grant the city received earlier this year.
Part of the funds will be used to help soften the taxation impact of increased debt servicing costs. Staff projects that the taxation portion of $241 million will cost residents approximately $20 per year for five years, and the yearly tax increase will be in the 3.66 to 4.83 per cent range over the project construction years.
Borrowing the money would need to be approved by residents through an Alternate Approval Process (AAP).
It involves two weeks of public notification and 30 days for responses from residents. The AAP is expected to be conducted in late August to early September.
READ MORE: Replacement for Âé¶čAVâs Parkinson Recreation Centre could have affordable housing
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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