A flurry of meetings, briefings and updates has led up to tonight's non-statutory public hearing on YMCA Calgary’s proposed operational takeover of the SLS Centre.
The meeting, set for 5:30 p.m., comes amid rising tensions, largely fuelled by concerns raised by the Cochrane Curling Club (CCC) about the future of the On The Rocks lounge and whether the YMCA’s model is the right fit for the multi-use recreational facility.
“I want to stress, we are not anti-Y. This has nothing to do with anti-Y anything. This has everything to do with zero public consultation on this,” said CCC president Kendall Wanting.
“I’ll be very blunt — it pissed me off when I read that town admin is now recommending council vote on this on June 23. I understand there’s a legislative process, but I asked both Mike and Jeff where we were going, and they told me the dates were arbitrary.”
If the transition moves forward, the curling club is calling for a delay to allow transparent community consultation, a third-party financial review, and a user-informed operational plan.
Among its concerns is ensuring that the new governance structure under the YMCA allows meaningful decision-making by local stakeholders, and that long-term user agreements — similar to current ones — are put in place to avoid year-to-year uncertainty.
In a statement issues today, Cochrame Minor Hockey, the largest user group of the centrre's three arenas, is advocating for town council to delay the vote until all concerns are heard from all user groups.
Its officials have met with the YMCA and the town to express its concerns related to its ice availability and go-forward costs.
"We are seeking assurance that our program will still have access to our current ice allocation and that we don’t see substantial increases in costs to our members."
In a press release issued Tuesday, YMCA Calgary president and CEO Shannon Doram said the organization is eager to collaborate with those who breathe life into the SLS Centre and to help meet the growing recreational needs of the Cochrane area.
“We understand that transparency is key to building strong relationships,” said Doram. “Over the past week, we’ve engaged several user groups in productive conversations about our shared vision for the SLS Centre. We remain committed to living our core values of respect, honesty, responsibility and caring in all that we do.”
The YMCA also updated its FAQ section to address concerns surrounding curling and lounge operations.
“YMCA Calgary is committed to the ongoing delivery of high-quality curling ice and has no plans to change the availability of this experience,” it states. “We look forward to supporting efforts to introduce the game to more people and operating this important community amenity as we have with similar multi-amenity facilities across Calgary and the Bow Valley.”
The operation of the lounge, however, remains a sticking point.
“While YMCA employees will not be involved in serving alcohol on an operational basis, we look forward to working through an open and collaborative process to find a solution that enables the continued responsible enjoyment of the lounge,” the statement reads.
It also says it has no intention of changing the curling club’s access to the lounge.
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That’s not enough for the CCC, which is demanding a written, binding guarantee that the lounge and all curling operations will remain intact for the duration of the 25-year contract with the town.
On Monday, Mayor Jeff Genung and Town CAO Mike Derricott held a press conference to clarify the proposed path forward.
Mayor Genung said public consultation isn’t being overlooked — it would take place during the six-month transition period, during which YMCA staff would familiarize themselves with operations and user needs.
"We've been taking a lot of criticism on how the process has gone and how individuals think it could have been better. We're not done the current process, which is allowing for interface with users and some people may say that the cart was put before the horse.
"We were really navigating a complex, difficult set of circumstances where we have a current operator, we have a current volunteer board, 250 or so staff at the current rec centre, and we're trying to be mindful of the impacts on all of those individuals plus not upset current the current state in our community where people are obviously using that as a hub. It's well used. I mean, that's part of the reason why we're here--it's so well loved."
He says a foundation piece of the RFP was to start with the status quo, then go forward.
He emphasized that the broader goal is to meet future recreational needs.
“I think through a lot of this, we’ve all been focused on what’s going to happen to the SLS Centre. But the real reason we’re having this discussion is Rec Centre 2.0,” said Genung. “When we looked at the YMCA’s relationship with the City of Calgary — and how much less they pay to operate similar-sized facilities — that’s what drove us to explore this option in the first place.”
But what about the Cochrane Arena?
Largely missing in the discussions is the future of the aging Cochrane Arena.
CAO Derricott acknowledged the arena, now over 50 years old, is nearing the end of its life cycle.
“It’s not a surprise to the community to hear us say that the facility is reaching the end of its natural and long-loving life of serving the community,” he said. “But we know we need a plan for what comes next."
He said it would continue to be used as long as it remains safe until the development of replacement ice is well underway, and that it would be covered under a separate, short-term operational agreement with the YMCA.