Town gives update on recreation facilities usage

However, he said, overall the amount of time the rink was used was reasonable, given the restrictions that were in place.

The Alex Dillabough Centre (ADC) was hit particularly hard during the pandemic, especially last year.

“For all of 2021, we operated under some sort of COVID restriction, whether it was gathering sizes or masking or whatever,” Schechtel said. “It all contributed to keep demand at a low.”

He added it was worse in 2020 when the ADC fully closed down for about six months. Then, usage started to increase a bit from October to December 2021.

Now fortunately, 2022 bookings are basically what they were pre-pandemic, possibly even higher than they were in 2019.

“It’s going to be busy at the ADC this summer,” Schechtel said.

The town’s campground saw positive numbers during the pandemic.

“It was a pretty good summer in 2021,” he said. “Our total number of campers almost doubled from 2020, and same thing for full service bookings…”

Usage numbers in 2021 were basically similar to what they were pre-pandemic. Schechtel added he expects campground numbers will be just as good, if not higher, going into 2022.

For the Town of Battleford Flats baseball diamonds, Schechtel said the town changed the way it tracked usage numbers. Initially, only youth were using the flats at the start of last summer. Then, adults were permitted as the year progressed.

“It’s something to keep in mind with the flats,” he said. “We changed the way we tracked the stats this year. We went by what was actually used, rather than what was booked.”

Some members of council asked about the possibility of accessing diamond eight at the flats as it hasn’t been used in a few years. Schechtel pointed out it’s currently in poor shape. So the condition of this diamond will first need to be brought up to a good “playability standard,” both infield and outfield, in order for it to be used by any of the user groups in the future.

Mayor Ames Leslie mentioned the soccer pitch also needs to be used.

“Are we going to find a way to promote [it] to bring soccer more down to the flats?” he said. “That’s prime real estate.. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen a soccer game down there.”

Leslie encouraged the town’s Parks and Recreation committee to look into the matter and potentially bring the issue back to council for more discussion or some type of recommendation.

Recovery rates outlined

Schechtel presented the recovery rates for the town’s recreation facilities for the 2021 season during his report.

The cost recovery rate for the town’s recreation facilities reflects what level the town’s facilities are being compensated by user groups and how much taxpayers are covering the operations.

Schechtel noted if the town is completing more maintenance work or has other expenses related to the facilities that can impact the recovery rates as well.

Looking at the numbers, the ADC struggled with an 18.34 per cent recovery rate last year, but is expected to see a much higher recovery in 2022.

The flats saw a challenging recovery rate of 17.21 per cent.

The campground, however, fared well with an 87.68 per cent recovery.

The arena came out a little better than anticipated with a recovery rate at 51 per cent in 2021.

Leslie took the opportunity to commend Schechtel for meeting the town’s target of having over 50 per cent of the user groups covering the operations for the rink for the recovery rate in particular.

“Great job to Jordan and your team, because that’s tough to do with a hockey rink,” he said.

–

Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Angela Brown

Town gives update on recreation facilities usage

What's Trending