On Tuesday evening Mayor and council, as well as members of the public heard about a focused vision for a Bowen Island Community Centre and a series of steps required in order to proceed towards having one built. With a benchmarked cost of almost $10 million for the project, Mayor Murray Skeels cautioned council to proceed with the next steps cautiously.
Sam Collins, from a project management consulting firm called Pivotal, said that while various options for a community centre have been developed, re-hashed and re-worked over at least the past decade, it is necessary to commit to moving forward on one idea.
The idea he presented includes community space made up of two multi-purpose rooms, a community kitchen, a lobby, reception, showers and washrooms. The building would also include municipal offices, a municipal hall, a fitness centre and recreation offices. The total square footage amounts to 14,400.
Collins laid out a series of steps that need to be taken moving forward, and five “gates” that must be opened at various stages. Getting to and opening “Gate 2,” he said would trigger a community referendum about borrowing the money required to build.
Stephen Bellringer spoke to council both as a member of the municipal finance committee, and a concerned member of the public. He warned that with major fundraising projects already being conducted, and others soon to be launched, there will be stiff competition when it comes to fundraising for this project. He also warned that while people will put their pennies towards a community hall, they might not be so keen to have their money put into a municipal hall.
Most of council was adamant that despite the cost and the risks, it is important to commit to building a community centre.
Councilor Melanie Mason made an impassioned plea to move ahead with the project, in part because there is currently the opportunity to access significant federal and provincial funding and if Bowen doesn’t move forward, we might “miss the boat.”
Paul Hoosen, who has long advocated for the creation of a theatre space, also weighed in on the subject of funding. He said that there are significant reserve funds that can be used towards the project, including those put aside by the Arts Council. He also noted that there is government funding specific to arts-spaces that members of the arts community would be happy to pursue independently.
The discussion continued, focusing on issues of government funding and whether or not to split the community hall project from the municipal hall project.
In the end, the decision was made to recommend to council to move forward on the recommendations of Collins’ report and make commitments on the Community Hall project.
