Dawson City, Yukon, councillors aren't budging on site for new rec centre

Town councillors in Dawson City, Yukon, have rejected a proposal by the mayor to move the location of a planned new recreation centre.

Mayor Bill Kendrick put forward a motion at Tuesday's council meeting to consider building the rec centre behind the local RCMP detachment downtown, rather than just outside the downtown at the bottom of Dome Road.

Kendrick referred to a recent cost estimate for the proposed facility, which estimated that operations and maintenance costs would be around $1.5 million annually. Moving it into the downtown could make it cheaper to operate, Kendrick argued.

"Not all of our recreational facilities will be able to be under that roof," Kendrick told CBC News. "City council is concerned about O and M [operations and maintenance] costs for the new facility."

Kendrick also said that having the facility in a more central location in town would make it more accessible for elders and young school kids, especially during the winter months.

The open lot behind the Dawson City RCMP detachment. Mayor Bill Kendrick suggested that building the new rec centre on the site would make the facility more easily accessible for seniors and young people. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

But councillors didn't like the idea and rejected Kendrick's motion. According to the mayor, the decision was made before a discussion even started.

"We didn't discuss it when the topic came up because the motion did not get a seconder," he said. "It was strange because normally when a council colleague puts together a report and there are staff ready to talk about it, generally speaking, you move things to the floor to discuss — and then you can vote it down afterwards."

Kendrick said now that the location at the bottom of the Dome Road has been confirmed, again, council will look into establishing a local advisory committee to help guide the process forward.

A recent cost estimate for the facility put it about $30 million over budget. That's forcing the town to rethink the design plans to stay within the budget of $65 million.

Kendrick said the town hopes to hire a new design firm by March.

'This is close enough to downtown'

Dawson resident Monna Sprokkreeff said she didn't think building a recreation centre behind the RCMP detachment was a good idea either.

"They've chosen a good location," she said. "Let's stick with that and not waste any more time, because it will just be ridiculously delayed."

Sprokkreeff has been on the town's recreation board for many years. She saw firsthand how the town's current rec centre came to be, and how it is now needing serious TLC.

"The history that I have with the last arena ... doing all of the studies, all of the reports, all of the consultations. I'm just really wanting to get it right this time so that we don't have to revisit this in another 10 years because we're having structural issues," she said.

For years, the Art and Margaret Fry Recreation Centre has been plagued by structural issues caused by thawing permafrost.

The Art and Margaret Fry recreation centre, located on 4th Avenue in Dawson City. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

Sprokkreeff believes the best spot for the new recreation centre is at the bottom of Dome Road. She said there is enough space for a modest facility, and adequate parking.

She said with the project's federal and territorial funding at risk of expiring later this year, the city can't afford to waste time by rethinking where to put the facility.

"This is close enough to town," she said. "Let's just carry on and get going with what we can build out here."