What is to become of the arena space at the Brandon Community Sportsplex? That is the big question the City is asking its residents and you'll be able to share your opinion at the upcoming Open House this week Wednesday at that same arena.
The City of Brandon has commissioned a needs assessment to determine the best future use of the current Sportsplex arena and increase the accessibility and functionality of the facility, to develop conceptual designs and cost estimates to guide decision making and future investments', states their most recent media release.
'The needs assessment will give Brandon a roadmap to ensure enough ice time, court time and leisure space for everyone. It is evaluating options, such as a renewed ice plant and arena or an alternate redevelopment, such as indoor turf and sport courts," shares Corporate Communications Officer for the City of Brandon, Merrilea Metcalf.
Should the consensus be that the arena space remains an ice rink, a new ice plant will need to be purchased;comnig at a cost of about $1 million.
"It's Brandon's community sportsplex; where everyone comes together, and it's everyone's community centre," Metcalf adds, "a place where we can play and have fun together and it's important to have everyone weigh in on the conversation The assessment is to get the community together to share their opinions on what is the best use for that space. So, is it for an ice arena, or a turf place, or a multi-sport court use," she explains. "There are several options that we could look at as a community, as to what do residents and people want to do at the Sportsplex."
The come and go open house will take place this Wednesday, August 16th from 4 to 7 p.m. in the arena space at Brandon’s Community Sportsplex, 30 Knowlton Drive. In addition to the open house, an online survey is open until August 23, 2023.
Input from Brandon families in the open house and online survey will be used to help determine needs and priorities for future improvements, says Metcalf.
"The outcome of this project is to determine a viable option for redevelopment, and to develop the conceptual design for the renewed Sportsplex. The proposed and approved redevelopment will then move into a conceptual design phase, and the related construction project will be put forward in the 2024 capital budget for City Council consideration" states Metcalf.
Please listen to more with Merrilea Metcalf below.
More details on this project can be found at brandon.ca/recreation-assessment.
In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, DiscoverWestman encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverWestman app.