A recreational complex and library all bundled into one in south Barrie.
Mayor Alex Nuttall revealed at a news conference on Thursday the location of mixed-use recreational complex and library to be built on 100 acres in the area of Huronia Road and McKay Road East.
For reference, the Barrie Community Sports Complex in Midhurst is approximately 113 acres, East Bayfield Community Centre's property is 19.1 acres, and that of the Peggy Hill Community Centre is 18.4 .
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This is a project that means a lot to Nuttall, who put forward a motion in council nearly 18 years ago to build a bring a recreation centre to South Barrie.
"The scheduled build of that rec center was between 2010 and 2014," he said in Thursday's news conference. "So, somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 years we've waited just to get the land to build the rec center on that we approved in the late 2000s."
The city is yet to acquire the land in question. The official cost will not be made public until the sale is final, but Nuttall says it is much cheaper for the city than the 13 acre site on Yonge St. from a previous proposal.
The property where the complex will be built was expropriated by city council in April.
"It's well located along the county roads and Highway 400, said Ward 9 councillor Sergio Morales. "I think with the infrastructure investments that we put at McKay Road, it's proper access while still being of much better value than something that would have occurred along Yonge Street."
"It also includes lands that are going to need to be environmentally protected going forward," Nuttall added.
Nuttall says the project size will make Barrie a regional sporting hub ideal for tournaments, community events, and more, but also didn't play down the library element.
"There's a lot of opportunity for educational services to be mixed with athletics and recreation," he said. "We might end up with an elementary or a secondary school proceeding as an attachment to try to save some money for the taxpayers on those gym services."
There was no timeline given for the project at Thursday's news conference, but Nuttall acknowledged there was plenty of infrastructure needed to make all of this happen.
"We've got to make sure that we have the appropriate transit services in places and that we get the road infrastructure upgraded to allow for the movement of traffic in a fluid way."
The city's staff report on the project outlines two scenarios for the recreation centres.
Reccommended by the city is a single-facility model which is an alternative to a previously proposed two-facility model.
This site was strategically identified by city planners because of it's central location between Hewitt’s and Salem growth areas. It's also in close proximity to Highway 400 which will be made accessible by a future planned interchange project at McKay Rd.
The included programming:
- Quad pad arena
- Eight-lane, 25m swimming pool
- Leisure & therapy pools
- Triple gymnasium
- Fitness centre
- Multi-purpose rooms
- 45,000 square foot library
- Outdoor recreation space (soccer, cricket, pickleball, baseball,
tennis, basketball, skate park, splash pad, playground, multi-use
domed facility, dog park, community garden, event plaza, walking
Ttails)
By putting all the failities into one location, there's no need to purchase additional
land, which ends up with a cost avoidance of $80 million according to the report.
The fully informed budget to deliver on the plans for the single-facility model is $375.8 million. The staff report says that the single-facility model will help the city save on staffing and operations costs, while also having less of an environmental footprint.
