The city is taking a long-awaited step toward adding a recreation facility to serve a growing area of southeast Winnipeg.
A request for proposals is seeking a contractor to complete a feasibility study for a proposed Bonavista Recreation Centre, which would serve about 30,000 people.
Area councillor Brian Mayes said there is great demand for the facility, noting a 2009 General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres report said it was justified by population increases.
“I have been fighting for this. This is my No. 1 priority for the ward this term. Let’s get this thing moving,” said Mayes (St. Vital).
The city has set aside about 11 acres of parkland along Warde Avenue in Bonavista for the building, as well as outdoor recreation and parks. It expects to build a 20,000-square-foot rec centre facility at the corner of Warde Avenue and Evelyne Reese Boulevard with a gymnasium and smaller multi-purpose rooms, a request for proposals notes.
The site could also include outdoor amenities, such as a hockey rink or soccer field, depending on public feedback, the RFP notes.
“(It includes) no indoor ice and no indoor pool, which will cut the cost down. But we need something there. This will help serve Sage Creek and Bonavista,” said Mayes.
The councillor noted the population of Sage Creek alone now exceeds 9,000, while Bonavista has also grown substantially in recent years.
The Southdale Community Centre serves both of those neighbourhoods now, as well as Southdale, Island Lakes and Royalwood, with its catchment growing to about 30,000 people by 2021.
“We should be doing something…. This thing has been identified as a need since (2009),” said Mayes. “We’ve got the land, we’re ready to go. People bought homes expecting there to be some sort of community centre there. I intend to make that happen.”
The project was expected to cost $12.1 million in 2019 but would likely require at least $15 million now, he estimated.
Mayes said he hopes to secure provincial and federal funding to support the project. Ideally, he’d like to see construction begin by 2026.
“It’s (about) having somewhere to have a sense of community… and watch your kids play. Sage Creek and Bonavista have had rapid growth… I’m proud to see we’re finally moving forward,” he said.
The RFP notes the city hopes to have the $200,000 feasibility study completed with a cost estimate for the centre, by Aug. 31, 2025.
Tamara Bauknecht, general manager of the Southdale Community Centre, said there is definitely a need for more recreation space in the area, especially a large gym.
“Any new recreation space is amazing. Is it needed? Absolutely,” she said.
Bauknecht said she hopes the new facility will create a venue for large group events and alleviate Southdale’s need to book school space for basketball and other sports.
“Our gym isn’t really so much a gym as it is a social hall. We don’t have nets, we don’t have any holes in the floor for volleyball or badminton,” she said.
Bauknecht said Southdale CC hopes to operate the proposed Bonavista centre and ensure it doesn’t compete with Southdale’s programs and already-small pool of volunteers.
“We want to be able to operate it because all those people in Sage Creek and Bonavista are currently our catchment members.… (And) volunteers aren’t easy to come by anymore. We would lose a chunk of our own volunteers (if this was run separately), which would hurt us drastically,” she said.
Mayes said the city has earmarked $5 million toward the centre’s construction.
In an email, city spokesman Adam Campbell said the first round of public consultations on the project will begin in the fall, with the input expected to help create a draft design for the facility.
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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