Abbotsford continues to grow and, with that, comes expected growing pains.
The use of sports fields, ice rinks and parks is a hot topic for residents and will only increase with more people demanding access to facilities.
One positive beacon in that struggle appears to be the Abbotsford Recreation Centre.
It was announced in January that ARC will receive $10 million in upgrades ($5.6 million from the city, $4.45 from the federal government) to create a number of upgrades.
The project includes enhancing wheelchair lifts to improve accessibility for individuals with mobility challenges.
It also includes retrofitting the current HVAC system and connecting all heating systems to facilitate more efficient sharing of thermal energy throughout the facility.
“Abbotsford Recreation Centre is our largest recreation facility and plays a vital role in the overall health and livability of the community,” stated Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens at the time.
“This project will help to make ARC more energy-efficient as well as more accessible to all users and aligns with Abbotsford city council’s values of environmental and financial sustainability.”
Council is also looking at several strategies to improve services.
The Arena Strategy was launched in 2021 with several goals in the first five years. It aims to identify level-of-service targets for ice, dry-floor and curling users. Another early goal is to increase ice availability for the community and create a plan for aging facilities.
In the next five to 10 years, it aims to increase dry-floor availability, explore new curling options and also look into renewal and redevelopment for local arenas. A long-term plan is redevelopment of both MSA Arena and Matsqui Recreation Centre as both of those arenas are nearing the end of their useful life span.
The first phase of the Aquatic Services and Facilities Strategy was also presented to council in November.
The community currently has two indoor pools – at MRC and ARC – and the outdoor Centennial Pool.
All were built decades ago – Centennial in 1958, ARC in 1972 and MRC in 1991.
ARC had major renovations in the mid 1990s, while Centennial had renovations in 1996, 2008 and 2022.
The question for the city to consider as the strategic plan progresses is how much it wants to spend on keeping aging pools going.
The removal of Centennial Pool is among the possible options listed in the Mill Lake Master Plan currently in progress and which will provide a framework for the development and management of the park over the next 15 to 20 years.
The information revealed that the current facilities are well-used. The latest figures from 2019 indicated there were approximately 561,000 annual visits to local pools – a per-capita rate of 3.5.
Maintaining that rate over the next 10 years would result in an anticipated 793,000 swims per year.
But Abbotsford’s current pool inventory can accommodate only 555,000 swims per year, meaning that infrastructure upgrades will likely be needed.
The city has already planned some improvements, designating new outdoor spray parks over the next few years: Ridgeview Park in 2024, Eagle Mountain Park in 2025, Homestead Park in 2026 and Pepin Brook Park in 2027.
The report states that residents have indicated the current aquatic services are insufficient and there is an increased demand for programming that supports leisure, health and fitness. The second stage for the strategy is set for December 2024.
Another lingering controversy is the status of local turf fields.
Abbotsford council voted to end its joint-use agreement with the school district in relation to the artificial turf field at W. J. Mouat Secondary in early 2022. It was deemed unsafe and the City of Abbotsford wants the Abbotsford school district to split the repair costs 50/50.
However, the school district was only able to offer $500,000 and thus was unable to commit to a true 50/50 split. As a result, an agreement to jointly fund the new field at Mouat could not be met.
That led to the school district restricting sports user groups at Abbotsford Senior Secondary School’s Panther Field in order to extend life period. That decision was made in June 2022 and sent several user groups scrambling.
These issues have still not yet been resolved, with the Mouat turf field not being used and Panther Field only being used by school activities.
The next 10 to 15 years will be crucial for recreation users, and local leaders will have plenty of tough decisions to make.
READ MORE: Abbotsford in Action 2024