FAQs

A community centre provides a range of benefits to residents, including fostering social connection, promoting physical and mental health, providing educational opportunities, supporting youth development, boosting local economy, and creating a sense of belonging for residents of all ages and backgrounds.

Yes, in 2023 the District of Lake Country completed a Sport and Recreation Needs Assessment report to better understand the current state of sport and recreation in the area and identify potential future priorities. Research and analysis undertaken as part of the Needs Assessment included:

• Public and community stakeholder engagement (614 residents provided feedback through surveys and 40 community groups / interests were engaged through discussion sessions and a web-based survey).
• Review of available facility and program utilization data
• Analysis of population and potential growth
• Trends and leading practices review
• Benchmarking

Summarized as follows are key Amenity Strategies. The importance of re-investing in existing infrastructure was also strongly identified in the Amenity Strategies.

• Undertake the necessary planning to analyze and determine the best approach to add a second sheet of arena ice.
• Undertake feasibility analysis on an aquatics facility when the District population is nearing 20,000 residents.
• Monitor gymnasium space use in the near term and if capacity challenges exist in 5 years, re-assess the need for incremental gymnasium and multi-sport space.
• Consider including complementary activity spaces like a running / walking tracks and fitness / wellness spaces in a new arena and/or multi-sport facility should these projects be undertaken in the future.
• Sustain the current ball diamond inventory and work with the baseball community to establish pre-requisite targets before baseball specific diamonds are developed.
• Work with the pickleball community to better track participation data, foster capacity, and work towards building a pickleball hub (12+ court facility).
• Initiative planning in the short term to add needed rectangular sport field capacity. The addition of this capacity could occur through one or a combination of retrofitting an existing site (e.g. replacing a natural surface with artificial turf, better orientating fields, etc.) and/or development at a new site.
• Develop the proposed mountain bike park (planning currently underway) and assess opportunities for skate spots and pump tracks as part of future park development on an ongoing basis.

See the full report here:

lake-country-sports-and-recreation-needs-assessment-2023

The following is a summary of engagement undertaken during the first phase of the study:

• 13 discussion sessions with various community organization and interest groups. 
• 26 organizations provided a response to a community group survey. 
• 2 open house events were held (approximately 30 attendees). 
• An online version of the open house garnered 445 responses.

The space program identified in this Phase 2 report suggests a focus on the following primary core spaces: 

• Turf field with elevated walking track 
• Library 
• Gymnasium 
• Flexible Fitness and Recreation Areas 
• Arts and Culture Dedicated Spaces (including display, exhibition, maker, and support areas) 
• Community Meeting Space

The following is a summary of Key Findings from the Engagement:

• High levels of support exist for retrofitting the facility for community uses and the opportunities that could exist within the structure and overall site to meet a wide array of recreation, arts and culture, and heritage space needs.  
• Maximizing the uses of the facility (multi-purpose capability and adaptability) are viewed as being important.  
• Demand for aquatics services in the community, but also a recognition by some as to the cost challenges of building and operating this amenity type (and whether this facility is suitable for aquatics).  
• Most potential users and group representatives value function over form when contemplating future facility investment and capital works. Many believe that the industrial feel and connection with a key industry aspect of the facility should be embraced and preserved where possible in design / aesthetics to reflect local heritage and character.  
• Many group representatives and individuals are unaware of the existing building conditions and context that could impact potential space use options (e.g. that the structure consists of rooms/ salons and is not currently an open clear span). 
• The location directly adjacent to several existing community amenities, the Winfield core, and schools is viewed as a significant opportunity to further build-out a multi-dimensional hub site that is easily accessible. 
• Physical accessibility is an important consideration for many residents and groups. It was strongly expressed that upgrades to the building need to focus on ensuring access for all individuals looking to access opportunities and amenities within the facility. 
• Many group representatives would like to see occupancy occur as soon as possible, even if for temporary uses pending longer term capital works and space retrofits that are likely to require significant resourcing.

Lake Country residents have often expressed a desire for more recreation and culture services to be available within the community. A community centre provides a range of benefits to residents, including fostering social connection, promoting physical and mental health, providing educational opportunities, supporting youth development, boosting local economy, and creating a sense of belonging for residents of all ages and backgrounds. Transportation limitations are also an issue for many Lake Country residents, especially for those with limited income and with mobility issues.

Benchmarking provides additional insights into sport and recreation provision levels and was undertaken for the 2023 Sport and Recreation Needs Assessment. However, it is also important to recognize that benchmarking is an imperfect exercise with limitations that need to be considered in the appropriate context. 

• Benchmarking is simply an overall comparison of infrastructure provision (the number of the amenity type that exist in a community) and does not factor in amenity quality or other important service level factors (e.g. cost to access, how the space is allocated, etc.). 
• The benchmarking research compiles data from a number of secondary sources, primarily municipal planning documents and website. As municipalities count their inventory in different ways, some small margin of error likely exists. For example, sports fields and ball diamonds within a municipality’s “bookable” inventory can be dependent on joint use agreements with the school system, cross-over fields, etc. 
• Municipalities with a similar population to Lake Country were selected for the benchmarking exercise. However, every municipality is unique with different geographic factors, regional adjacencies (e.g. proximity to a nearby urban centre), historical context, etc. 

Further to the above point, another important factor to consider when reviewing benchmarking is historical growth patterns. The cost of constructing amenities such as pools and arenas has increased significantly over the past decade. Many communities with legacy infrastructure built from 1970-2000 would likely be unable to build those amenities today.

The estimated capital cost for the full facility build-out is $63,589,107 (Class D estimated; +/- 30% 18 times out of 20). Should the District decide to phase the project, the following capital costs are estimated to apply to the following three phasing clusters: 

• Arts and culture, library, lobby, and administration space: $23,587,444 
• Gymnasium, flexible fitness and recreation space, community meeting space, food and beverage, and storage: $28,313,155 
• Turf field with track: $11,688,508 

Operational cost analysis reflects that the facility could operate at close to a break-even position, but may require some level of subsidy. The ability of the facility to secure lease arrangements and attract rental groups will be key variables impacting future revenues and the overall level of subsidy required. Updates to both the estimated capital and operating costs should be undertaken on a move forward basis as decisions are made on phasing, potential partnerships, and lease agreements with prospective tenants.

Yes, major grant opportunities and other funding support mechanisms are being explored to help reduce the overall cost of the project to community members.

After further assessment, the project architect recommends that this building is not suitable for conversion to an aquatic centre. Given the high demands placed on technical building components, the building itself would need to be almost entirely rebuilt, negating any cost benefits. An expansion of this building, or a new building at a different location would result in an aquatic centre that could be designed to best practice standards, and would retain a much longer lifespan.
For additional details, please see Appendix B: Summary of Aquatic Viability Review on page 27 of the Phase 2 report. 

Because the Winfield Arena ice use is already maximized, we have been exploring partnerships and opportunities for a second sheet of ice to make more time available for the public, school programs, and specialized athletic programs. Options are being considered for expanding the Winfield Arena, although this would be a separate project.

No,. The Westpoint Apartment Housing development will be situated across the street at 9751 Bottom Wood Lake Road on a separate property that also housed former BC Tree Fruits Cooperative facilities.

In our due diligence in considering the purchase of the BC Tree Fruits property, the existing building was thoroughly inspected, including structural, geotechnical and environmental aspects, and we are confident that the structure is sound and can be renovated for a wide variety of uses.

The existing cold storage facility is 73,965 sq.ft. and there is also a separate 4,800 sq.ft. workshop on the property.