By Jim Mosher
Friday June 01, 2007
Gregory Adair (left) and Clint Torfason flank recreation director Julianna Roberts as they cut a cake that says it all: ‘Winnipeg Beach: Here We Go.’Interlake Spectator - WINNIPEG BEACH -- There was no shortage of ideas as citizens rolled up their sleeves at a workshop last Saturday. The 70 people of all ages were there to draw a first sketch of a vibrant new future for the town’s recreation centre.
And ‘vibrant’ may have been the word of the day, as participants rolled through their lists of adjectives to describe what the rec centre should be.
Those who attended the morning session last Saturday at the Hamilton Ave. centre were not dissuaded by overcast skies, a slight drizzle or cool temperatures.
Veteran workshop leader Rhonda Lorch led the session.
The full town council attended, but as citizen participants. “They are here today as interested citizens,” Lorch said at the outset. “This is not a council process. This is a community process -- and it belongs to you.”
As Lorch led participants through a variety of tabletop exercises, a picture began to emerge. People do not want to lose their rec centre. But as hockey and figure skating no longer pay the bills, they agreed a broader, more inclusive approach is needed to bring the once-vibrant centre back to life.
Tony Pimentel noted during opening remarks that the rec centre was as much a victim of changing population patterns as anything else. He said most family units now consist of two working parents and fewer children than during the days when ice hockey was king.
That’s meant that there are fewer hockey teams and fewer volunteers to fill the recreational void.
Among the highlights of the gathering was that youngsters had their say. While there were only a handful among the adults, they talked about what they’d like to see at their community centre, too.
Clint Torfason, for instance, suggested indoor soccer, an arcade and a music centre. “I guess we could have some bands here to play and a movie theatre -- and a fitness centre,” Torfason said.
Senior Garth Teel recalled the heady days of the 1950s, when the boardwalk was teeming with life and activity, and the dancehall was packed with patrons. They are gone, though a new boardwalk was constructed a decade ago. “I would hate to see this facility go the same direction,” Teel said.
Greg Mandzuk, a town councillor, said the Beach is the envy of many rural communities because it has a rec centre to build upon. “We’re miles ahead of every community that does not have a facility like this,” he said. “I think this whole process is very exciting.”
What emerged as the workshop continued was a sense of renewed confidence and engagement.
The town and townsfolk, most agreed, need to undertake a sort of cultural shift to embrace a host of uses, activities and ages. This view of the rec centre as a multi-use facility won clear support.
The trick will be to incorporate the range of uses suggested. And they truly cover the waterfront -- from water stations to high-speed Internet access in a lounge-like setting (a sort of Internet café, as one youngster suggested) to a juice bar to live theatre and other public performances to lacrosse and other field sports to a walking-running track to climbing walls to a youth drop-in centre to paintball and laser tag areas.
Students at Winnipeg Beach School also added their wish lists, which included many of the above but also such things as a monkey trail and BMX bike trail.
“They did this on their own initiative,” school principal Bev Pellick noted proudly.
Putting it all together would require a professional design that includes put-up teardown strategies because, large though the centre is, most of the activities could not be accommodated in the existing space.
And accommodation was key to many.
“I think retrofitting the rec centre should be looked at in such a way that it can accomplish as much as possible,” said Mandzuk. “But it should also be done in such a way that we do not lose our capacity to put in an ice surface.”
As the session neared its end, Lorch and recreation director Julianna Roberts led people on a tour of the basement of the centre. It was a first post-mold remediation trip to the basement for most. Dressing rooms on the south side were removed during the remediation, which began last September. Now the basement has a less confining feel; its openness suggesting to some the breadth of possibility this one simple renovation created.
People were treated to a light lunch after the workshop, capped by chocolate cake.
“As a first step, this was really positive,” Lorch said after the session. “There were some great ideas. It’s a great way to start a community initiative. There was so much excitement.”
As a next step, Lorch will bring together all suggestions presented then meet with those who volunteered to hammer out a workable way to deal with these suggestions.
If anything is iron-clad, it’s that the new rec centre must be one for all ages, a multi-use facility -- and the hub of activity.
The adjectives repeated during the session as each group reported said it all: Vibrant, inclusive, connected, exciting, prosperous, profitable. friendly, dynamic, useful, fun.
The challenge now is to translate the witnessed enthusiasm into a cohesive plan that doesn’t break the bank.
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