The Collingwood Fitness Centre - Contact Centre Was To Be Replaced By New Wellness Centre At Heritage Park, But Soaring Costs May Change The Plan

Collingwood Council has put the brakes on construction of the proposed new Wellness Centre at Heritage Park.

At the regular meeting of Collingwood Council on Monday, May 17th, it was learned that costs for building the new Heritage Park facility have soared to 4.9 million dollars from the budgeted 2.94 million dollar estimate.

Councilor Kathy Jeffery said that she was terribly disappointed to learn about this latest development in constructing a facility to replace the aging Napier Street Fitness Centre/Contact Centre. She went so far as to say that maybe a better plan would be to simply renovate the existing Napier Street facility.

Council passed a motion tabled by Councilor Norm Sandberg to suspend construction on the new Heritage Park facility to give staff time to investigate other funding possibilities. His motion was seconded by Councilor Tim McNabb. Councilor McNabb wondered why the revised construction estimates were not made available to council during the 2010 budget meetings.

The construction delay will give town staff time to investigate any government funding opportunities that may be available.

Councilor Sonny Foley said that the soaring cost of the proposed new Heritage Park facility was not acceptable for a building that will serve only a small number of patrons. Foley also suggested that the new Director of Leisure Services, when hired, should be invited to be a part of the planning process for the new facility.

As it stands now, the aging Napier Street Fitness Centre/Contact Centre will remain open. Renovations to Centennial Pool at Central Park will be completed and the pool will open for the summer.