Regional recreational facility forges ahead

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Millions of dollars are finally being allocated for a regional recreational facility in Strathmore by a three-way partnership, following years of discussions, needs assessments, and project designs.
Golden Hills School Division (GHSD), the Town of Strathmore, and Wheatland County recently announced their combined $10 million commitment for the facility which will be part of a project to build a Kindergarten to Grade 9 school in Edgefield.
Once the structure is completed, which is scheduled for the fall of 2017, the facility will serve as an indoor field-house-type of recreational facility complete with an indoor walking track, spectator seating, court sports, and an indoor soccer field.
“Our default position was that we could always just build a regular school, but everyone’s aware that the demands of our community are such recreationally that this is a huge opportunity,” said Bevan Daverne, superintendent for GHSD. “I think it has shown real leadership and initiative on the part of both the town of Strathmore and Wheatland County to take advantage of the circumstance, which is the new school announcement, and do something that will be pretty amazing for the whole region.”
The project proposal first came before town council during a special meeting on Dec. 23, 2014 when Strathmore agreed in principal to contribute a maximum of $5 million to the joint facility. Wheatland County further conducted a $40,000 needs assessment with RC Strategies before arriving at their decision to dish out $3 million in conjunction with GHSD’s $2 million. The joint facility will address recreational needs in Wheatland County, Strathmore, and provide a better-equipped gymnasium for the new school.
“Folks that provided their input on that survey felt that they wanted an indoor type facility for running and walking for all seasons and also for indoor field house play and this fits that bill,” said Alan Parkin, chief administrative officer for Wheatland County.
“We’re working with the Town of Strathmore and the Golden Hills School Division as we speak on developing some terms of reference for the joint use agreement and that’s going well. So far everybody is positive and looking forward to it.”
The facility would also address three recreational needs in Strathmore as was identified in the 2012 assessment – lacrosse, walking track for seniors, and indoor soccer.
The K-9 school and the regional recreational facility are planned to begin construction this summer.