Gibsons Area Community Centre Society (GACCS) needs your input. While most of us were busy relaxing over the recent holidays, the folks at GACCS spent the time in meetings preparing for last Saturday's visioning exercise. That meeting, according to new GACCS chair Rob Corlett, was the best visioning process he's ever been part of.
"The depth of knowledge, the keenness, the passion in community of the 15 people were great," Corlett enthused.
This core group is continuing to follow up on the community centre approved by the referendum in June 2005.
The centre to be built in Brothers Park in Gibsons will feature an ice surface, squash/racquetball courts and various other community-use rooms. The concern now is to build the centre with the features outlined to the public at referendum time. And to do that the society requires input from all user groups. Right now GACCS counts as members retired engineers, community experts, a professional fundraiser and interested citizens. And while both Corlett and past interim chair Jack Diamond are thrilled to have the fundraising expertise of Geran Capewell in their group, they're hoping to attract more professionals to the society. High on their wish list is a lawyer. Diamond also wants to see representatives from the Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association and the figure skaters provide input. Diamond is anxious to build the ice surface to Olympic standards rather than NHL specifications. The difference between the two standards is approximately five metres in width. That would allow three practice sessions for figure skaters at a time. GACCS hopes the larger ice surface would be enough to attract a junior hockey team to compete with Powell River.
"Interestingly, [hockey] head injuries are far less on Olympic-size ice than NHL," Diamond said.
A sub-committee (Coast-wide Fund Development Com-mittee) of GACCS has been formed to find federal, provincial and corporate funds for the dream building.
"The committee as a whole feels strongly about building the community's vision. If that means building in stages, that's the worst-case scenario. We want to have the centre ready in plenty of time for the Olympics," he said.
Both Diamond and Corlett stress it's important to have representatives from Sechelt on the committee so funds can be raised for the whole Sunshine Coast.
One of the main objectives of the committee is to build a green building. That intention will help bring federal money to the project.
"A green building wouldn't be significantly higher to build. There would be a one to two per cent increase in cost. At least three grants are available federally that may offset the cost," Corlett said.
And greening could help to reduce operating costs in the long run. A primary cost saving would be the recovery of waste heat from the ice plant.
"We could have heat to sell," Diamond said.
Diamond would like to build the centre to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) specifications. LEED is a U.S. based group that certifies buildings that incorporate environmentally sustainable design, construction and operational features to reduce environmental impact. The principles would be used in landscaping, recycling, ventilation and heat recovery.
Marius Lavoie, a Canadian government representative from Canmet Energy Tech-nology, advised GACCS the federal government will pay 50 per cent towards a feasibility study of green technology, particularly heat recovery.
The recovered heat could be used by the swimming pool in Gibsons or even commercial enterprises such as Sunnycrest Mall.
"Regardless, we want to build [the community centre] right. This needs to be built for the future," Diamond said.
So far, GACCS has had support (mostly moral, at this stage) from MLA Nicholas Simons and current MP John Reynolds. And the new Gibsons council bodes well for GACCS. Three members of the council are strong supporters and former members of GACCS, including past chair Gerry Tretick. Another ally is Coun. Chris Koopsman, a sports and fitness consultant with various teams across Canada. He is the liaison for the Town of Gibsons with GACCS. Coun. Bob Curry was also a strong supporter of the community centre and sat in on many planning sessions.
While it may seem nothing has been done since the referendum passed, Diamond hastens to say that's not the case. Traffic and geological studies, primarily water flow studies, have been taking place as necessary before the project can proceed.
Now the group needs public input. There will be a two-day design charette early next month. This is the opportunity for all concerned citizens to have their input. If you can attend both days and want your say, call 604-886-4227 or email [email protected]. "We can do this as a community. We need the whole community to get together," Corlett said.
