Springfield Community Recreation Centre breaks ground

The RM of Springfield’s new recreation centre has broken ground and the mayor said it was a long time coming.

“It’s been 34 years coming,” said Mayor Pat Therrien. “That is the specific reason I ran for the mayor’s job. I was literally tired of every election…having some artist’s rendition of a future rec center, and this has been going on for 34 years, as I stated.

“And so, it’s finally up and running. I’m not giving myself a clap on the back there. It just had to focus the topic, and we have to move forward with it, and we finally did.”

The Springfield Community Recreation Centre project will be completed in 2028 and the municipality held a formal sod-turning ceremony on April 16 for the first phase of a two-phase project. This milestone represents the largest infrastructure and community project undertaken by the municipality to date, according to administration.

The 75,000 square-foot two-storey centre will cost more than $21.75 million for the first phase and about another $10 million for Phase 2.

Phase 1 will have a gymnasium, indoor walking track, multipurpose rooms, indoor play space, community kitchen, change rooms, and administrative offices. Phase 2 will have a fieldhouse and a fitness centre. The decision to continue with Phase 2 will be left to the discretion of the new council.

“It’ll have all the accoutrements of a large rec center, and it’ll put our community together as a focal point for all the generations there to meet,” said Therrien, who noted the high school graduations can be held at the rec centre once it’s built instead of hosting the ceremony at Winnipeg’s Club Regent Casino.

While the rec centre will have the facilities to host events and gatherings, Therrien said it will not take away from community halls.

“This won’t be detrimental to anybody (in Cooks Creek or Oakbank) whatsoever,” he said.

Therrien said council couldn’t green light both phases at once because it is looking to build a water treatment plant, which has been stuck in the environmental assessment phase for two-and-a-half years due to a study on the impact of the project on the caddishfly, a type of fishfly. The current treatment plant is more than 20 years old with an operational limit of 27 years.

Construction of the recreation centre is made possible through a combination of funding from grants, borrowing, community fundraising, and municipal reserves. The municipality reports that almost $2 million was raised through the support of community members, businesses, fundraising initiatives, and partnerships.