Residents who want to fly a banner in a recreation venue to honour a hometown athlete or sports team now have more criteria from city hall to make that happen.
During its June 14 regular meeting, city council approved an updated recreation facilities banner policy, which outlines the approval process and cost responsibilities to recognize the success of residents and teams through the hanging of banners in municipal-owned buildings.
Moose Jaw has a history of hanging banners in recreation venues to celebrate the accomplishments of individuals and teams, but no formal policy has ever existed, a council report explained. Moose Jaw Minor Hockey and Moose Jaw Lacrosse are the only two organizations with championship banners displayed in arenas.
The Moose Jaw Kinsmen Speedskating Club recently approached the parks and recreation department about hanging a banner in the Kinsmen Arena to honour speedskater Graeme Fish. Fish, 23, set a speedskating world record at the World Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. in February 2020.
The new policy provides the department and community organizations with guidelines to display recognition banners in municipal recreation venues, the council report said. The new criteria include creating an application form for approval, outlines to address the procedures and cost coverages to hang banners, identification of locations and guidelines to accommodate requests and outlines for the responsibilities for all parties involved.
The parks and rec department plans to communicate directly with community organizations and user groups about the new policy and post the document on the municipality’s website.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, June 28.
