Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

City Council

FROM:

General Manager of Parks and Recreation

SUBJECT:

Sunset Community Centre Renewal -- Canada-British Columbia Infrastructure Program Grant Application

 

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council endorse the Sunset Community Centre renewal project for submission to the Canada - B.C. Infrastructure Works Program, and authorize staff to submit an application for $4,000,000 of Infrastructure Program funding.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Parks and Recreation RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

In 1985, Council endorsed the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) initiatives to take steps to halt the significant decline in the condition of infrastructure in urban areas, placing emphasis on maintenance and reconstruction as opposed to new construction, in partnership with senior governments.

In 1997, when endorsing the extension of the 1993 Canada Infrastructure Works Program, Council noted that the only priority should be for projects that replace existing, deteriorating municipal infrastructure.

In December 2001, Council approved the Sunset Community Vision.

PURPOSE

At the Park Board's regular meeting of September 16, the Board passed the following resolutions:

A. THAT application to the Canada - B.C. Infrastructure Works Program for $4,000,000 in funding towards the Sunset Community Centre renewal project be approved, subject to Council approval as outlined in Recommendation B.

B. THAT staff be authorized to seek Council approval for the allocation of $3,000,000 to the Sunset Community Centre renewal project, the source of funds to be the $20,000,000 pool of funding within the 2003 - 2005 Capital Plan for projects in receipt of senior government cost sharing, subject to voters approval of the funds and approval of senior government cost sharing for this project.

DISCUSSION

Community Centre Renewal Plan
The Park Board recently analysed the physical condition of its 22 community centres, and prepared the "Community Centre Renewal Plan" as a long-term strategy for maintaining and strengthening the City's centres. The Renewal Plan, which was approved by the Board in November 2001, identified Sunset Community Centre as one of the six "high priority" projects.

Sunset Community Centre is jointly operated by the Vancouver Park Board and the Sunset Community Association. The centre is located at the south-east corner of E. 51st Avenue and Prince Edward Street in Sunset Park. The centre has approximately 24,500 square feet of floor area, which includes a gymnasium, ten rooms (some specialized, some for multipurpose use), and the change rooms for the Sunset Outdoor Pool. The Renewal Plan stated the following:

"Opened in 1950, Sunset is one of the City's oldest Centres and has received limited capital investment over the years. There has been modest renovations on the main floor to create a small fitness centre and some improvements to interior finishes and lighting, as well as mechanical systems upgrades.

The overall facility layout, from both a supervisory and programming perspective, is poor. The programming spaces, many of which are in the basement under the gymnasium, are small, noisy and inappropriate for group programs. Lobby and circulation space is extremely constrained. The Centre is two blocks removed from the nearest main street and lacks visibility.

Sunset is also rated as a high priority for seismic upgrading and other code upgrading. It is one of three multi-level centres remaining without elevators.

Sunset is designated as a priority for renewal on a scale comparable to a complete facility replacement. This could be achieved by rebuilding on the current site. However, the option of relocating the facility to improve access and visibility should be given consideration through a feasibility study.

Order of magnitude cost estimate for renewal is $7,000,000, including costs of demolition of the current facility."

Since the Renewal Plan was approved, staff have explored in more detail the notion of rebuilding the centre on Main Street between 51st and 53rd Avenues, which is on designated park land currently included in the Board's Sunset Nursery operations.

The location of the new building is yet to be confirmed by the Board.

Sunset Community Vision
There are two relevant directions contained in the Sunset Community Vision, which was approved by Council in December 2001:

- "The Park Board should create more community centre space in Sunset by adding to the existing facilities, building a new centre, or creating more satellite facilities."

The Sunset renewal project supports this Vision direction. Sunset Community Centre currently has 24,500 square feet. With a budget of $7 million, the centre could be expanded to about 28,000 or 29,000 square feet, increasing the floor area by 15%. This would deliver better quality spaces and accommodate more people, consistent with the service and quality levels met in other recent community centre redevelopment projects.


The Vision also states:

- "Whenever community services such as community centres, neighbourhood houses, health centres, etc. are considering new facilities or relocations, locations in or near the shopping areas should be given strong consideration due to their accessibility and high community profile."

This project creates an opportunity to realize this direction.

Capital Plan for 2003-2005
The proposed 2003-05 Capital Plan as presented by the Capital Plan Staff Review Group's report of September 27, 2002 includes a recommendation to support the inclusion of $3,000,000 from the $20 million pool, for the Sunset Community Centre. Should Council support this recommendation, the authorization contained in this report would enable senior government partnership funding to be applied for.

Canada-British Columbia Infrastructure Program
On October 10, 2000, the Infrastructure Canada-B.C. Partnership Agreement was signed, with the Federal and B.C. governments committing a total of about $540 million to this initiative. On January 19, 2001, the Infrastructure Program was formally announced, with 80% of funding to be allotted to municipality-driven projects. These projects require a minimum of 1/3 of the funding to be committed by the local government.

The primary goal of the program is investment in "green" local government infrastructure; however, 25% of available funds will be invested in "other local government infrastructure" priorities, including recreational facilities. All projects must be construction, renewal, expansion or material enhancement of infrastructure for the public's use or benefit. Applications can be sent in at any time and approvals will be made at set intervals until June 30, 2005. All funded projects must be completed by March 31, 2006.

In March 2001, Council approved a prioritized list of 22 "Green" and 20 "Other" (including four "Community Initiated"infrastructure projects), for which application was then made to the Infrastructure Program. To date, a total of 99 projects in British Columbia have received program funding.1 Three of these are City of Vancouver projects, all relating to the upgrade of the sewer system in the China Creek-Canoe Creek basin (total project value is about $27 million, with about $18 million of the funding coming from the senior levels of government). In addition, three `Community Initiated' projects in the city have been approved: the Millennium Sports Facility (gymnastics and indoor lawn bowling), the new South Vancouver Neighbourhood House and an addition to the Jewish Community Centre (the combined value of these three projects is about $6 million, with about $3.3 million of the funding coming from the senior levels of government).

Four of the 24 "Other" projects approved by Council in March of last year involved renewal of Park Board Community Centres. These projects, their priority ranking on the City list, and their estimate cost at the time of application were as follows:

Priority
(out of 24 projects)

Project Description

Cost Estimate

3/24

Mount Pleasant Community Centre and Library Complex

$10,000,000

6/24

False Creek Community Centre Expansion

$1,300,000

17/24

Kerrisdale Community Centre Renovation

$500,000

19/24

Champlain Community Centre Expansion

$1,300,000

To date, none of these projects have been approved or rejected for Infrastructure Program funding but all four are proceeding with secured budgets very close to the amounts originally projected. In every case, infrastructure funding - though no longer critical - would still be useful to achieve full program objectives.

Sunset Community Centre Renewal was not included in the 2001 proposals for Infrastructure Program funding because of circumstances which have since changed: (1) the Long Range Renewal Plan for Community Centres, which identified Sunset as a priority project, had not then been completed, and (2) no capital funds were available, from the 2000 - 2002 Capital Plan or other source, for allocation as the required minimum 1/3rd City cost share required by the Infrastructure Program. It is now clear that Sunset is a priority, and there is a strategy in place to secure the City's share of costs.

The Honourable Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Natural Resources Canada and Minister responsible for British Columbia and Member of Parliament for Vancouver South-Burnaby (in which constituency Sunset Community Centre is located) has written to the Chair of the Park Board to express his full support for the redevelopment of Sunset Community Centre and to encourage the Board and the City of Vancouver "to pursue funding through the Canada-B.C. Infrastructure Program." Minister Dhaliwal describes the proposal as "a tremendous opportunity for all levels of government to contribute to a community effort."

CONCLUSION

Sunset Community Centre Renewal is a good candidate for the Infrastructure Program. Council is being asked to endorse the application to the Infrastructure Program for $4,000,000 required for the project, with the remaining $3,000,000 to be derived from the $20 million pool. Upon a successful outcome of this application, the General Manager of Parks and Recreation, in consultation with the Director of Finance, would report back to Council on the details of funding.

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ag021001.htm

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver

1 The total value of these projects is about $228 million, with the senior levels of government providing about $144 million.