New place to swim top priority for Summerland

Replacement of aging aquatic centre tops list in Parks and Recreation Master Plan

A new aquatic and fitness centre is Summerland’s No. 1 priority, according to the Parks and Recreation Master Plan presented to council Monday evening.

“The 42-year-old aquatic centre is nearing the end of its serviceable life. It’s used to capacity during prime time and key programs have wait-lists,” said Erik Lees of Lees and Associates, who prepared the plan.

The plan notes a lack of a district-owned gymnasium and multi-purpose rooms, which could be incorporated into a new facility.

Replacement of the 41-year-old arena and curling club ranks as the second priority.

The arena ice facility currently meets most needs of the community; however, a second ice sheet may eventually be needed, Lees said.

The plan recommends detailed audits for both the aquatic centre and arena along with long-range planning for eventual replacement.

A significant hurdle to replacement of the aquatic centre is the lack of potential to expand at its current location.

Other recommendations include reviewing pool operating and exploring opportunities to increase pool use and revenue.

“You enjoy a lot of community support for improvement of these facilities,” Lees told council.

According to community surveys, building a new community recreation centre pool was given the highest priority, followed by upgrading the arena and developing a master plan for trails.

Also included in the community’s priorities were keeping recreation affordable, creating and protecting more natural areas, and creating more multi-purpose trails.

“Your community feedback was off the charts in our experience,” Lees told council.

There were 160 participants at two open houses, 393 respondents to two online surveys and 200 participants in a phone survey.

That’s in addition to stakeholder interviews, a council workshop and youth engagement.

“Youth appreciate the small-town character, safety and walkability (of Summerland), and are interested in participating in recreation programs and helping to plan them,” Lees said.

The youth would like to see a variety of new amenities such as places to socialize and more festivals, movies and concerts in the parks, and more dog parks.

The town has fewer off-leash dog parks than selected other communities in the Okanagan, including smaller communities such as Peachland and Osoyoos.

The master plan recommends exploring options for one or more full-time, year-round off-leash dog parks and making the existing dog beach accessible for all dog owners.

“Allowing dogs off leash at certain times of the day or months of the year has worked well in other places,” Lees said.

Summerland has a variety of excellent parks and more total parkland than the average for similar-sized B.C. communities — Giant’s Head Mountain and Conkle Mountain account for 70 per cent.

The community also benefits from nearby parks such as Sun-Oka Beach Provincial Park, Lees said.

However, city, community and neighbourhood parklands are below the provincial average and at the low end of the range for nearby municipalities.

Lees said that three neighbourhoods are underserved for neighbourhood parks: western Trout Creek, Happy Valley and the Sinclair-Barclay neighbourhood west of downtown, Lees told council.

“This is a really good report, but more work needs to be done in prioritizing these things,” Coun. Doug Holmes said, referring to the length and complexity of the 290-page plan with its 19-page executive summary.

“Staff will operationalize the plan and bring it back to council,” chief administrative officer Linda Tynan said.

The master plan is available at www.summerland.ca.