If you were hoping that the recreation needs assessment for the City of Estevan would include a definitive answer on whether to build a new third ice surface, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
There’s a lot of information to digest in the needs assessment. It’s a 70-page document that received about 700 submissions. The city paid good money for it to be completed, too.
But as far as the recommendation on the next big recreation project in the city, there is nothing specific.
It shows there are a lot of people who want to have a third ice surface constructed in Estevan, but people believe a new facility can’t just be used for winter sports. It needs to be a multipurpose, year-round facility that can meet sporting needs in the summer.
Other people have a desire to have a field house constructed that could be used for sports year-round. It would allow athletes in baseball, football and other outdoor sports to keep their skills sharp through clinics in the winter months.
Unfortunately, we’ll likely only get a field house or a third ice surface.
As for the other big recreation project some want in Estevan, the construction of an outdoor swimming pool, you have to wonder if people’s desire for a year-round, multipurpose facility might take an outdoor pool out of the equation.
We all love the idea of an outdoor swimming pool. Proponents of an outdoor swimming pool will point out that it’s not just great for kids in the spring and summer, but there are outdoor pools in neighbouring communities much smaller than Estevan, such as Bienfait, Midale and Lampman. The good folks in Oxbow are about to open their new outdoor pool after years of hard work and fundraising.
But an outdoor pool carries a seven-figure cost and it can only be used a few months of the year.
Perhaps Estevan should be looking for ways to improve its indoor swimming pool, which can be used throughout the year. In case you haven’t noticed, we have pretty great water sport teams here.
There’s a lot more to the needs assessment than discussions about facilities. It has shown the city some of the areas where they can improve, such as communication and consultation with user groups. The city says it is already moving forward on those recommendations.
This document shows that people are generally pretty satisfied with their sports, recreation, parks and culture facilities in Estevan. That hasn’t always been the case. If this survey would have been taken 10 or 15 years ago, the feedback would have likely been very different.
It’s a testament to some of the facilities that have been constructed, such as Affinity Place and the Chamney Family Running Track. Other facilities have received considerable upgrades.
You’ll likely hear some who are disappointed this report doesn’t call for a new third ice surface or a field house. It’s been more than 20 months since the Civic Auditorium was shuttered, and more than a year since it was torn down. And while the city is going to have a meeting before the end of this month with ice user groups, such as hockey and figure skating, to discuss the next step, it doesn’t feel like we’re any closer to a decision.
That’s the frustrating part for a lot of people. They’ll tell you we should move forward, and get something built.
They want an answer. And they don’t feel the city is giving them one, even if the city is still working towards the next decision.
