A downtown community centre at an existential crossroads will not yet be demolished following a vote by Brandon City Council to seek further public consultation prior to deciding its fate.
Options presented Monday evening’s meeting of Council included repairs at a cost of $60k - 110k that would allow a building capacity of 40 people to more involved work at a cost of $130k+ that would allow a full capacity of 143 going forward. An additional future investment of $152k - 180k would be required to address further building deficiencies, opening up the possibility of full costs that may exceed $300k.
Alternately the full building could be demolished at an estimated cost of $70k-100k.
The latter option, consistent with the city’s Recreation Facilities Master Plan, had been the recommendation of the report presented Monday night by City Director of Community Services Perry Roque. As part of questioning at council Roque noted consultation that had previously taken place as part of formation of the Recreation Master Plan, a process that several councillors questioned as to whether or not it may have solicited feedback that was an accurate representation of public sentiment when it comes to Park Community Centre specifically.
After much discussion Council by a near-unanimous 9-1 vote agreed to a motion by Councillor Desjarlais of Rosser Ward to put off making a final decision until the new year in order for administration to develop a public consultation process to consider the Community Centre’s future. A report based on that consultation would come back to council at a future date.
When news of the report to be presented this evening broke late last week, much public discussion ensued surrounding the recommendation for demolition. Through the weekend a petition to stop the centre’s demolition was noted in an eBrandon discussion thread while also gaining a healthy amount of attention in local media and on local social media. By 9pm on Monday over 1800 signatures had been received in support.