City council focused its attention on the Golden Ticket Sports Centre during its March 11 regular meeting, including whether the venue is profitable and who is responsible for its upgrades.
The former Hillcrest Sports Centre is one of eight venues that the parks and recreation department wants to upgrade this year as extra capital projects after $312,500 became available following the cancellation of unneeded roof repairs at the Bert Hunt Arena.
The department plans to spend $75,000 at the Golden Ticket Sports Centre (GTSC) to make it more accessible, including removing the vestibule over the loading zone, adding an accessible ramp to the entrance and replacing the front doors.
Coun. Doug Blanc agreed with upgrading the sports venue but wondered if the department could construct just the ramp to save money and address the expected 2023 deficit.
The cost to remove the overhead vestibule will be $30,000, adding the ramp will be $ 20,000, and installing new front doors will be $25,000, said parks director Derek Blais. He acknowledged that there were opportunities to remove some initiatives, while it was also possible to tie in some with other projects.
Coun. Crystal Froese wondered how many more building improvements city hall planned to make, considering the municipality had already spent “a significant amount of money” there. She acknowledged that the doorway needed upgrading because it was in disrepair.
The department has one phase remaining with the roof replacement project, including upgrading the west side over the tennis courts, said Blais. The city will spend $580,000 in 2025 on the roof and $125,000 in 2027 on exterior work.
“We have an obligation to have all of our facilities become accessible; therefore, I’m leaning to believing that we should do some upgrades to the front doors of the Golden Ticket Sports Centre,” said Mayor Clive Tolley.
However, he was concerned that installing the ramp would only provide access to the main landing and not to the downstairs or upstairs. He wondered if ramps existed to address that concern or if the city would install such infrastructure.
City hall installed a new chairlift in August 2023 so people can access both levels, while installing this ramp will complete all accessible upgrades there, said Blais.
Coun. Kim Robinson — who voted against the extra eight projects — wondered whether the sports venue was profitable; he knew building manager Golden Ticket Sports Inc. (GTSI) was making money through its programs but thought council was still spending “an awful lot of money” there even though the agreement said the company was supposed to handle repairs and maintenance.
GTSI has completed more than $600,000 in improvements since it took over in June 2021, while the agreement says the tenant is responsible for 100 per cent of all upgrades, said Blais. The most recent enhancements have included new flooring on the lower level, new LED lights, new hardwood gym floors and upgraded bathrooms.
“Our (the city’s) commitment is to the heart, lungs and bones of the facility, so the roof and the exterior and everything else (like boilers and rooftop units) … ,” he continued.
The department’s options for handling the building were limited when this agreement arose because it was faced with either spending $1 million to demolish the structure or attempting to reinvigorate it for the community, Blais stated.
The city made a good investment by partnering with GTSI because the building is always busy and the parking lot is always full, he added.
Coun. Heather Eby thought adding the accessibility ramp was good but also wanted council to spend $75,000 to repair and repaint the Mae Wilson Theatre ceiling — a project they deferred to balance the 2024 budget. However, she understood that the former issue was more important than the latter.
“I’m really torn on that. I (just) don’t want us to push that facility (Mae Wilson) to the background, either,” she added.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, March 25.
