Sparwood council has received its first detailed briefing on a proposed year-round stage and accessible public washrooms at Centennial Plaza but made no decision on whether construction should proceed.
The district has secured a $650,000 Gathering Area and Town Hub Enhancement and Revitalization grant from Columbia Basin Trust for the project.
It has also applied for up to $500,000 through the Elk Valley Resources Community Investment Program. A decision on that application was still pending when council met Nov. 3.
Architectural design work is underway and committed, but the district has not tendered the construction work.
Coun. Steve Kallies asked staff where the proposal originated, what washroom facilities are currently provided during events and what would happen to the Columbia Basin Trust grant if council decided not to proceed.
Deputy chief administrative officer and community services director Jenna Jensen said a stage and public washrooms were identified during earlier public discussions about the revitalization of Centennial Plaza.
“It was important to the community to have a place where people could gather, host events and see that this happened in this space,” Jensen said. “There was strong public support for that.”
The project is intended to provide a permanent performance space while making the plaza more accessible and convenient during community events.
Events currently rely on portable toilets and washrooms inside the municipal office’s planning wing.
Jensen said opening the municipal washrooms provides an accessible option, but their distance from the plaza can be difficult for parents with young children and people attending events during colder weather.
The Columbia Basin Trust funding is restricted to a public gathering space and cannot simply be transferred into an unrelated municipal project.
“This is a very rare grant,” Jensen said. “Grants like this don’t come up very often and it is very specific towards its use.”
Jensen said the district would have to return the money if it could not use the grant.
She could not confirm whether Columbia Basin Trust would allow the funding to be transferred to a different gathering-space project because the district’s application was specifically for the Centennial Plaza work.
The active-project report was presented to orient the newly elected council. It did not ask council to approve additional spending or authorize construction.
Any decision to proceed, change, defer or stop the project would require council to receive more information about its budget, grant conditions, existing commitments and possible cancellation or delay costs.