Two reports on Penetanguishene’s recreation facilities were discussed at the recent committee of the whole meeting in Penetanguishene, addressing issues of maintaining current facilities while preparing for a future centre.
The aging 1954 Penetanguishene Memorial Community Centre (PMCC) and the 1973 Penetanguishene Curling Club (PCC) were explored in recent years as needing replacement rather than upkeep. In December 2023, council put a tentative 2033 placemarker for construction of a new multi-use recreation centre (MURC) which was projected to cost up to $49 million (as per a 2021 study).
Within the recreation and community services section, the first report was a 170-page update on the MURC project since 2023, which included its location at 51 Dunlop Street as well as a failed attempt to partner with the county, province, and Protestant Separate School Board last year.
However, the bulk of conversation was kept for the 170-page recreation facilities assessment report which recommended that annual capital budgeting exercises maintain function for the PMCC and PCC through to 2033; additionally, capital projects for the PCC would be brought to council for considerations.
As a suggestion, Mayor Doug Rawson pitched that the PMCC could follow an example he had observed from Oshawa where the ice surface could be converted to a dry court during the transition, which could save costs and increase usage within the facility while allowing staff to explore potential partnerships with other municipalities.
Recreation and community services director Sherri Desjardins replied that all options would be explored by staff as they looked at a future recreation master plan for the town, which could include the potential selling of the two facilities to help fund the larger MURC.
Coun. George Vadeboncoeur raised the question of the noted 2033 timeline, asking if any consultant had provided a projected end-of-life for the facilities as a council target; Desjardins replied there wasn’t.
It was a leading question toward the potential $49-million cost, with a date of 2033 being floated.
“I think we’re a ways away,” Vadeboncoeur said, noting his conversations with interested residents wanting more information. “I tell people to be patient. I see this 2033 date in there and I’d like to be an optimist… but that’s (substantially) less than 10 years away.
“To raise the kind of money that we’re talking about, I think we’re really being unfair to ourselves and potentially the public in terms of raising expectations,” he added.
Vadeboncoeur suggested that if a consultant noted a date of non-function for the PMCC and PCC, “Then we have something we can say: ‘Look community, look government, we’ve got to do something because we may be shut down.’ And that would be the worst thing is to be shut down in the middle of the season.”
On the 2033 timeline, chair Coun. Doug Leroux quipped: “It’s not something that’s written in stone; it could be on ice.”
The MURC update report and recreation facilities assessments report can be located on the agenda page of the Town of Penetanguishene website.
Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53 when available, or on the Rogers TV website.
Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.
