Just before Christmas, members of city council cautiously approved moving on to the next step in proceeding with a possible community/aquatic centre for St. Thomas.
There is no approved site for the facility and the wish list of options is lengthy.
The top five requested amenities for such a facility were: a lap pool and therapeutic pool, walking track, fitness area, a community common area and a library branch.
Coun. Gary Clarke noted with a substantial infrastructure debt documented in this year’s budget, can the city afford such a centre at this time?
Mayor Joe Preston explained the purpose of the report from a technical committee struck by council and tasked with creating a physical concept plan and determining the location for a new community and aquatic centre in order to be prepared for future funding opportunities.
Based on a survey undertaken late last year, there appears to be considerable support from St. Thomas residents for a community/aquatic centre. While he acknowledged that, Mayor Joe Preston cautioned such a facility could easily be, at a minimum, three to five years down the road.
Preston stressed, because of the present debt load, there is no way the city can construct this on its own.
He added, “Everybody keeps banting about $35 million, I would maybe suggest it may be twice that.”
The city will now retain a consultant to determine a Class C cost estimate and report back to council in the spring.
