Sportsplex renovation options laid out

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This article was published 17/08/2023 (890 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The consultants working on a needs assessment for future renovations at the Sportsplex will recommend one of four options to Brandon City Council next month based on community feedback and financial sustainability.

On Wednesday afternoon, representatives from MNP and Verne Reimer Architecture outlined the path to deciding what should be done with the aging structure after its ice plant had to be shut down earlier this year because of safety concerns.

The four possible options for revitalizing the ice arena space and other aspects of the facility were listed as follows: renovating the ice plant and arena; replacing the rink with an indoor turf surface; replacing it with a hard court surface; replacing it with a hybrid hard court/indoor turf setup.

Those four options were set to be presented to members of the public Wednesday evening as part of an open house aimed at finding out which was most appealing to users of the facility.

Councillors were given an outline of some of the general trends in recreation, some of the business and financial considerations in that sector as well as background on the Sportsplex’s recent operations.

In the city’s most recent update to its recreation master plan, staff noted that the community perceived a lack of indoor ice surfaces and a desire for accessible, low-cost community spaces.

At the time, indoor hockey spaces ranked seventh on the list of the public’s list of future priorities, but MNP’s Ian Frank noted that feedback was collected before the Sportsplex rink had to be closed.

It was also before the J&G Homes Arena was opened on the other side of Brandon city limits in the RM of Cornwallis.

Last month, Brandon director of recreation Heather Reimer said revenue from ice rentals at the Sportsplex had dropped around $150,000 — 30 per cent — since the other facility opened.

Frank said the bulk of the Sportsplex’s revenues have come in recent years from arena rentals by sports teams and leagues, which declined during the COVID-19 pandemic and have yet to fully recover.

There has, however, been an increase in revenue from city programming run at the rink.

“A 41 per cent increase does not make up for the loss of the rentals, but the available time has been gobbled up by … more programming,” Frank said. “You can see that with the overall participation, there was a 56 per cent increase from 2019 to 2022.”

Since the 2018-19 season, he said the Keystone Centre has seen a 17 per cent decline in booked hours at their ice surfaces compared to a 31 per cent decrease at the Sportsplex. However, no data is available for the Keystone in the 2019-20 or 2020-21 years because of pandemic closures.

While the new arena has helped relieve some capacity pressure in town, Frank said its programming is ultimately toward higher-level play and development than the Sportsplex, which was more community oriented.

In discussion with stakeholder groups that use the Sportsplex like Hockey Brandon and Assiniboine Community College, the consultants were told residents value that community-oriented programming like learn-to-skate programs and the accessibility of that programming.

However, stakeholders also identified a need for the building to be more accessible for people with disabilities by including better ramps and railings at the front and bigger and better changerooms and bathrooms, among other things.

Discussing the indoor turf option, the presenters said the space wouldn’t be big enough for a full-sized FIFA regulation soccer pitch like the ones being built at the new outdoor sports complex, but it would be useful for smaller competitions and training.

If a hard court was installed, it would likely be built as a field house or gymnasium concept and would be suitable for sports like volleyball, pickleball, badminton, basketball and futsal.

The hybrid hard court/indoor turf option would likely have a quarter-sized soccer pitch as well as a smaller hard surface.

For the options where the ice plant would no longer be needed, the space it currently occupies could be used for other purposes, like storage.

Last month, city staff said a repair of the current ice plant would cost roughly $350,000 and would allow it to run until September 2025 if pursued. That’s because the plant currently operates under an exemption from the province because it does not meet current standards, which expires that month.

Should the city pursue a full replacement, the cost is estimated to be more than $1 million.

With each of these options, the consultants will be seeing what the business case is for them. That includes diving into what the renovations would cost and how much the new facilities would be to staff and maintain.

They’re also looking into how much use each of the options would be projected to get as well as potential advertising opportunities and the revenue balance between offering space more as rentals for teams and leagues versus community programming.

Potential grant opportunities from the federal and provincial government will be included in the report, with Grant saying there’s more money available in general for multi-use facilities rather than facilities with a single purpose.

According to data the consultants received from Canadian Sport Centre Manitoba, there has been an increase in interest for sports like speedskating, figure skating, sports for people with cerebral palsy, racquetball, tennis and football and a decrease in interest for hockey, volleyball, basketball, badminton, ball hockey, lacrosse, soccer, baseball and cricket.

That same data states that sports continue to be the main type of activity for Manitoba youth over music, language learning or volunteering.

Discussing trends in recreation, the consultants said municipalities are increasingly re-purposing older facilities but costs to improve accessibility are higher for buildings made in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

At the end of the presentation, Mayor Jeff Fawcett asked about the change room for the Sportsplex pool only being renovated under one of the four potential renovation options.

Grant said the pool change room had so far been excluded from their analysis at this point.

His co-presenter, Jeff Penner from Verne Reimer Architecture, said it should be considered with all the options, but what can be done may be affected by other choices the city has to make regarding the renovations

City manager Ron Bowles noted that city council approved $3 million in borrowing for accessibility upgrades at the Sportsplex in its 2022 budget deliberations, but those funds have yet to be spent.

The consultants will pull together information from their studies, Wednesday’s open house and an online survey and present a recommendation for which option city council should proceed with on Sept. 18.

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