Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Directors of Community Services, Social Planning and the
Office of Cultural Affairs

SUBJECT:

1999 Capital Budget: City-owned Childcare and Cultural Facilities

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

POLICY

Council approved a funding allocation of $2,500,000 for City-owned social service and cultural facilities within the 1997-1999 Capital Plan.

SUMMARY

The 1997-99 Capital Plan included an allocation for City-owned social service and cultural facilities. In any given Plan, some projects can be foreseen when the allocation is first established, but others cannot. The on-going planning process has now identified the need for funding from this Plan for renovations to three cultural facilities and some preliminary feasibility work done for a childcare facility. The need to relocate the Family Place has also been identified and is an example of the type of project which cannot be predicted. Funding is recommended for the following projects:

1. South Vancouver Family Place ($240,000) - This important social service has been served notice by the owner of the private rental space that they have occupied for a number of years that their lease will not be renewed next year. Staff are recommending that this program be moved to a new portable facility, to be City-owned, that will be located on a closed street allowance that already has a portable childcare building on it. The recommended City funding ($240,000) will not be sufficient to pay for the entire project; the community has committed to fund-raise the balance.

2. Cultural Facilities ($50,000) - Council approved funding in 1998 to begin the process to upgrade three City-owned cultural facilities. As envisioned in the 1997-99 Capital Plan, a further $50,000 is requested to complete the major building systems and infrastructure repairs identified at the Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver East Cultural Centre and Pacific Cinecentre

3. Hastings Racetrack Childcare ($29,300) - In August 1997 a temporary childcare facility, operated by Kiwassa Neighbourhood House, was established in the bar in the racetrack grandstand area. Since then, Kiwassa has been working with City, Parks, Pacific Racing Commission and Ministry of Children and Families (MCF) staff to explore permanent fully licensable childcare facility options. With the encourage-ment and support of the City and Park Board, Kiwassa hired an architect to carry out feasibility and costing studies for the Agrodome, Rollerland and the PNE Board Room. To date, these studies of City-owned facilities, including seismic studies and building/fire code reviews have cost Kiwassa $29,300. For a number of reasons, none of the sites has panned out as being suitable for a permanent childcare program. If one of the projects had gone ahead, these costs would have been included in the overall project costs that would have been fully funded. Staff are recommending that Kiwassa be reimbursed for these studies, noting that Kiwassa has gained no direct benefit from this work but the City and Park Board now have up-to-date information on these buildings that will assist in future planning of the Hastings Park facilities.

PURPOSE

This report seeks Council approval for the allocation of funds to:

· relocate South Vancouver Family Place to a City-owned facility;
· to undertake repairs to three City-owned cultural facilities; and
· to fund design development already done for a Hastings Racetrack childcare facility.

BACKGROUND

The City owns a range of facilities which are operated by non-profit social service, childcare and cultural organizations. The buildings are leased, at a nominal rate, to the operating societies who are responsible for their programs and services as well as the day-to-day operations of the buildings. They do not, however, have the skills or resources to make major structural repairs, or provide new or replacement facilities.

Consequently, the City has, through the Capital Plan provided assistance with major structural repairs, as well as funds to assist with relocation and new development to address gaps in services. Over the past three years of the current Capital Plan, Council has been presented with, and approved, recommended funding allocations for these types of projects. This report is the final request for Council’s approval of all three forms of assistance from the current Capital Plan funding.

DISCUSSION

South Vancouver Family Place

South Vancouver Family Place (SVFP) is operated by the Vancouver Life Skills Society from rented, privately-owned space at 2295 East 61st Avenue. This organization provides a wide range of services and programs for children and families. Approximately 500 children and 400 adults attend SVFP every month.

Their current landlord has recently advised SVFP that their lease will not be renewed next September. This notice does give SVFP more than 10 months in which to find a new location and move, but given the difficulties in meeting the space and location requirements of this type of program, this is a very short time frame. A review of vacant spaces in the area shows that nothing suitable is currently available, and there are no indications of a suitable space coming available in the near future. To ensure that the services provided by SVFP are not lost, staff are recommending that SVFP move into a newly created City-owned facility.

In 1995, City Council approved the installation of a portable Daycare building on a closed portion of Bobolink Avenue, at 7715 Muirfield Drive (see Appendix A). This Daycare is operated by Vancouver Life Skills Society, the same organization that runs SVFP.

Social Planing staff are proposing that a second portable building, of approximately 2,000 -2,400 square feet, be placed on the western portion of this closed off street and leased to SVFP. The existing daycare building occupies a small portion of the closed street, and another one could be placed at the other end of the site, near Nanaimo Street without overcrowding. The General Manager of Engineering Services has been asked to review the possibility of placing an additional portable on this street allowance. This site is near enough to the current SVFP location that program users should have little difficulty in getting to it.

Council policy is that purpose-built, City-owned facilities be leased for $1 per year, on 5-10 year terms. This would give stability to a well- run, and much-needed social service in South Vancouver. Further, locating SVFP in a City-owned facility would be consistent with all the other Family Places (but one) which are housed in City-owned facilities.

Estimates of the cost of installing a portable for SVFP, adjacent to Bobolink Childcare range from $340,000 to $440,000, depending on the size of the building, the finishes, and required site preparation.

As is typical with the development of social service facilities, staff feel that it is important to get community involvement and support on these projects. Therefore, we usually recommend that the social service agency (in this case SVFP) undertakes a fund-raising campaign to help pay for the project. Experience with other projects of this scale has shown that $100,000 - $150,000 is a realistic target for community fund-raising. If SVFP has difficulty raising the money within the tight time frames, they could use the money that is currently being paid as rent ($50,000 per annum) to pay back a loan or advance. Staff therefore are recommending that the City contribution be established at $240,000, with the balance ($100,000-$200,000) coming from community fund-raising. The amount of money raised by SVFP will, in part, determined the size of the portable building and the quality and types of finishes and site development. City approval for this funding is needed as quickly as possible so that work can begin on the planning and design of the new facility so that it can be in place by the time that SVFP is required to move. A commitment of City funding is also required so that the organization can begin its fund-raising, using the City money to leverage other funds.

Cultural Facilities

Over the past 30 years many of the City’s cultural facilities fell behind in terms of building upkeep, code, systems and service levels. The “triage inventory” undertaken by staff as part of the recent Facilities Strategic Plan identified that the majority of the City’s cultural facilities are housed in heritage or aging buildings and they generally suffer from dated systems and building infrastructure. Improvements which have been initiated by the resident non-profit societies generally have been targeted at service and programming improvements, and building infrastructure.

Since 1995, the City has embarked on a major capital re-investment program to bring these buildings back into a reasonable state of repair. In 1998 Council approved a series of renovations to three City-owned cultural facilities. Of the $325,000 approved, the funds were allocated as follows:

· $266,500 for the Firehall Arts Centre. The brick work has been repointed, the exterior doors, windows and window sills replaced, new railings and awning installed, and HVAC installed in the theatre.

· $16,000 for the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and used to repair leaks, re-point stonework, paint the exterior trim, and replace rotting doors. As well the fire separation between the stage and basement had to be redone.

· $42,5000 for the Pacific Cinecentre for repairs and rebalancing of the HVAC system, to repair flashings and roof leaks, and to lobby upgrades.

The City’s Building Management staff have managed all of the repair work. The buildings are now in much better repair. There are however, outstanding repair items totalling $50,000 which staff are proposing to complete in the coming six months:

· Firehall Arts Centre: The wooden fence at the back of the Firehall is falling down. Staff are proposing to replace the Gore Street portion of the fence with a wrought-iron fence. This will provide better security but will also provide a better visual connection and help to open up the backyard to the community.

· Vancouver East Cultural Centre: During the course of the 1999 repairs, the Fire Marshall issued an order to re-do the fire separation between the stage area and the basement. Funds which had previously been allocated to replacing the boiler and repairing the existing stairs were re-allocated to the fire separation. The boiler still needs to be replaced. The emergency exit stairs from the theatre need to be replaced and the stairs to the adjacent “green house” need repair.

· Pacific Cinecentre: In the original budget estimate, $3,000 was allocated to correct the HVAC system. On further investigation, Building Management staff have determined that the problems are more extensive than previously anticipated. There are no as-built mechanical drawings for the building and the system needs to be documented before a solution can be designed to better balance the air flow. There remains an outstanding structural problem with the Pacific Cinematheque. The roof was replaced earlier this year but the building continues to leak. Building and Facilities Management staff are working to identify the source of the problem and potential solutions. If necessary, staff will report back with a detailed remedial program and budget allocation from the 2000 Capital Budget

These repairs will complete the program to bring the Firehall Arts Centre and Vancouver East Cultural Centre into a good state of repair. With ongoing annual maintenance and repair, they should remain so for some years to come. All three buildings, however, still have functional shortcomings. Any changes to the buildings to respond to program and service needs should continue to be initiated by the operating societies and funded through public/private partnerships.

Staff will be reporting to Council in the new year with recommendations for new operating lease agreements for all three societies which will include more defined terms regarding responsibilities for annual repairs and maintenance.

Hastings Racetrack Childcare

In late 1996, it was identified that racetrack backstretch workers were facing serious childcare problems because of their unusual hours of work. A needs assessment conducted in May 1997, partially funded by the City through the childcare grants program, identified that 53 children from 34 families were needing childcare at that time. Further work identified that at least 16 childcare spaces for children birth to 5 years were immediately required at least 5 days a week for the period 4:30 a.m. - 12 noon, if child apprehension issues were to be avoided.

In August 1997, with operating assistance from the Ministry for Children and Families, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House agreed to set up and operate a temporary childcare facility in the bar in the grandstand area. The provincial childcare licensing staff were persuaded to give special dispensation for this arrangement for a time limited period, in light of the safety hazards of having young children being inadequately supervised in the backstretch area and on the condition that the Pacific Racing Commission and staff from the City, Parks Board, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House and the Ministry for Children and Families agreed to explore permanent fully licensable childcare facility options.

Initially Kiwassa looked at having a childcare portable custom designed and built to suit a site on the park. Social Planning brought forward a capital grant request for this project which Council approved. However the money was never allocated for the portable because the Parks Board was not supportive of the option given the plans for the Hastings Park re-development.

On the advice and encouragement of the City and Park Board, Kiwassa in late 1997, engaged an architect to do feasibility and costing studies for the Agrodome site, the Rollerland site and then most recently for the PNE boardroom, all of which are City-owned. The Agrodome option was eventually put aside because of cost, the potential suitability of Rollerland and the complications raised by the Olympic bid. The Rollerland option was fully explored and remains the agreed upon priority location for a permanent facility but it is currently on hold in light of the renewal of the PNE lease for 3 years. The PNE boardroom option has been downsized to only minimal renovations to allay Park Board fears that relocation of the childcare program to the boardroom might interfere with the scheduled demolition of the building. Each time contextual factors changed, more work had to be done because planning and the provincial licensing staff required seismic studies, building/fire code reviews and preliminary plans showing the lay-out of the proposed childcare programs for their assessments. To date Kiwassa has spent $29,300 on these studies of City-owned buildings. If any one of the sites had panned out, the cost of these preliminary studies would have been included in the total project cost and Kiwassa would have been reimbursed for them when the project funding became available.

Kiwassa is therefore asking the City for monies to cover the feasibility, design and costing work done to date by the architect. Social Planning supports this request, noting that the City and Park Board now have up-to-date information about the buildings studied which will be useful for future planning of the Hastings Park.

It now looks hopeful that the PNE boardroom with minimal renovations and some purchase of new equipment, will allow for a temporary relocation of the racetrack childcare program for the next 2 years. The arrangement is not ideal but at least it ensures the racetrack families will have childcare and within this 2 year period it will hopefully become more clear what the future holds for both the Hastings Park Racetrack and the PNE. As well, provincial funding opportunities for cost sharing a permanent childcare facility in Hastings Park for racetrack and community families will also become clearer.

To address the short term solution, Kiwassa is asking the Province for a childcare emergency relocation grant to cover renovation costs. The Neighbourhood House will also be approaching other funders for equipment that can be transferred to a future permanent location.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The 1997-99 Capital Plan included an allocation of $2,500,000 for City-owned Social and Cultural facilities. This amount was intended to provide funding for one larger project ( a Neighbourhood House) and a number of smaller ones, including family places, childcare and cultural facilities. There is currently $326,249 in this fund. The recommended amounts of $240,000 for South Vancouver Family Place, $50,000 for repairs to three cultural facilities and $29,300 to Kiwassa Neighbourhood House for the Hastings Park Racetrack Childcare will result in $6,949 remaining in this fund.

CONCLUSION

City Council allocated funding in the 1997-99 Capital Plan to be used to repair, renovate, replace or create social service and cultural facilities. The allocations recommended in this report finalize the commitment from this funding for its intended purposes.

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APPENDIX A

Map of Bobolink Avenue

(Not electronically available.)

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ag991214.htm

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