Regional approach would see municipalities pay to build and operate pool: Pender

Mayor Charles Pender said the city can’t expect its taxpayers to pick up the cost of the facility once it is built. That was what happened when the civic centre was built for the 1999 Canada Winter Games. It was built as a regional centre with regional support for the build, but since then the city has been subsidizing the operation the tune of $800,000 to $900,000 a year.
He said the city needs to know where the province stands on a new pool and there has to be some commitment from the province in writing on exactly what it’s willing to contribute.
Pender said a pool will happen, and he knows the capital to do so can be found for the build, but financial support has to continue past the build.
He said it doesn’t have to be all the communities in the region offering support, but it does make things harder if they don’t. Pender also said conversations have been had with other municipalities and there is positive interest.
He sees some form of plan being developed over the next 6-8 months, starting with a feasibility study — initiated by the YMCA and including Corner Brook, Massey Drive, Mount Moriah, Steady Brook and possibly Pasadena — so municipalities can go to the other levels of government and be able to say exactly what they’re looking for.
Municipal Affairs Minister Eddie Joyce was not made available Friday to answer questions on what sources of funding would be available through his department.
Advanced Education, Skills and Labour Minister Gerry Byrne, during an address to the Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade Friday, said now is the time for municipalities to act in order to access pots of provincial and federal funding being made available in October.
Among those sources, said Byrne, is a pot of $1.4 billion allocated for arts, culture and recreational projects.

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