The city’s rec centre plan is a case of putting the cart before the horse.
Many of us weren’t informed or away last summer when a survey of the community’s citizens and user groups took place. This resulted in a rather skewed version of what we want for our indoor recreation and what we’re willing to pay for.
The two plan options presented to us on the city website reflect this, in that only these are being given to us as choices: there was no option to choose neither.
As an architect, I’ve been involved with community-based planning as a member and professional, assisting in the creation of the criteria that the designers were asked to work from. This all-inclusive process takes time but eventually leads to the best result in that everyone was onside from the beginning. If we, as taxpayers, are being asked to foot the bill for $35 to $50 million, an in-depth survey needs to be done first.
Related: Salmon Arm gets look at new rec centre options
Related: Salmon Arm Council, Recreation Society seek input on facility upgrades
Putting aside these first proposals, we need to go back to the beginning and hire a professional survey company tasked to create an all-inclusive questionnaire. A group of widely diverse community members could assist this process with the professionals. Then the survey could be circulated through our property tax bills where the taxpayers could weigh in on their priorities. The survey could then become the basis of community meetings where more of us have a say, and all of us have a chance to come together and decide the issues.
As an aside, in talking with one of the architects at the presentation, I was surprised to hear about the lack of knowledge of the parking situation, a major design consideration. This just underscored my concerns.
Frank Bugala,
Architect
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
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