MOOSE JAW — City hall plans to apply for more than $6 million in federal funding to support upgrades to the library, the art gallery and museum, Golden Ticket Sports Centre and Kinsmen Sportsplex.
The department of community services is seeking $6.2 million from Ottawa’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) Program to pursue several projects at the four venues over the next five years. The projects’ expenses would be split between the feds and the city — 80 per cent to 20 per cent.
The department will apply for $5,240,357 under the GICB program’s large stream fund to retrofit the Moose Jaw Public Library and Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery.
The upgrades include replacing a roof (2027), replacing boilers (2026) and HVAC (2027) with energy-efficient models, installing LED-controlled lights (2026), replacing windows and exterior doors (2028-29) and adding solar panels (2028-29) to reduce electrical consumption.
The parks and recreation branch will contribute $935,263 between 2025 and 2028.
Meanwhile, the community services department is seeking $581,600 from the medium stream fund to replace sections of the Golden Ticket Sports Centre roof. The city replaced five areas in 2022 and 2023 and will complete the remaining five sections in 2026.
The parks and rec’s contribution will be $114,150 in 2026.
Also, the department is seeking $252,285 through the small stream fund to replace the air-cooling systems at the Kinsmen Sportsplex in 2025-26 since the current system is nearly finished. The new A/C system would be more energy efficient.
The parks and rec’s contribution will be $40,457 in 2025.
Altogether, the city’s total contribution will be $1,089,870.
City hall says if it’s successful in acquiring this federal funding, the money would provide “a significant relief to the current funding pressures” with renewing and upgrading venues.
Meanwhile, it has spread out the projects over five years — which matches the department’s capital projects plan — because of the inability to do everything at once. It will also submit the applications in order of highest priority, starting with the large-stream projects.
Also, city hall says installation of the boiler and air conditioning system will go ahead regardless of the applications’ outcomes because they are needed to heat and cool those venues.
During its Oct. 7 regular meeting, city council unanimously authorized community services to apply for funding through the GICB program and approved the municipality’s proposed financial contributions.
The deadline to apply is Wednesday, Oct. 16.
City administration reviewed the GICB program’s “new build projects” funding stream to see whether it could acquire money to replace the Phyllis Dewar Outdoor Pool, specifically, the new change room/mechanical building, a council report said.
However, city officials determined it would not qualify because outdoor venues like pools are not eligible, the document continued. Moreover, buildings that support outdoor pools — such as storage areas, change rooms, or administrative offices — do not provide open and accessible programs or services to underserved communities.
Meanwhile, an “integral component” of the GICB program is that the retrofits must have a climate-focused objective where measures achieve at least a 10-per-cent energy savings and reduce greenhouse gases, said the report.
“These upgrades will align with the city’s climate action plan and will provide significant energy reductions, greatly assisting in achieving our emission reduction targets,” the document added.
Derek Blais, director of community services, told council that the new grant writer, Tanya Reimer, and the department’s capital co-ordinator took the lead on this project, which freed up his time for other duties. The two employees spent several days completing all forms and gathering data from all four buildings.
Coun. Dawn Luhning expressed concern that the city was funding roof renos at the Golden Ticket Sports Centre when the building’s namesake was a for-profit enterprise. She acknowledged that the municipality owned the building, but she pointed out that it also owned the non-profit Kinsmen Sportsplex and library/art gallery.
She wondered what Golden Ticket Sports Inc. paid the city as part of the leasing agreement. City administration replied that the business gave five per cent of its annual revenues to city hall.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Oct. 21.
