Edmonton city council rejects move to slash Lewis Farms rec centre budget

There will be no swan song for the Lewis Farms Community Recreation Centreafter city council voted Monday to stick with the $311 million budget to build the west-end facility.

In an 8-5vote, council agreed to maintain the amount in the 2023-26 capital budget for the facility at 92nd Avenue and Rosenthal Way.

Coun. Michael Janz had proposed reducing the mega rec centre's budget to $185 million, in a bid to save and reallocate money to other areas.

Coun. Andrew Knack said neighbouring communities have needed a facility for years.

"This gives them that clear certainty that this project is proceeding," he told news media after the vote. "[It's a] relief for me and I think relief for many residents in west Edmonton."

Janz argued the city needs to focus on humanitarian issues like homelessness andaffordable housing.

"I worry that we are tilting way too far on the side of being a city with wonderful amenities but not focusing on the basic rights of Edmontonians."

Janz suggested the project could be scaled back to remove the district park and satellite maintenance yard included in the project.

$73 million already in

Adam Laughlin, manager of integrated infrastructure, said the city has already invested about $73 million in developing theland that was previously vacant.

Laughlin said he couldn't speculate as to what the facility would look like if its budget were reduced by $126 million, as proposed by Janz.

"Wouldn't even hazard a guess at this point," he told council. "We'd have to go back and either engage or get direction from council on program[s], to build to the budget."

If council had approved the amendment, Knack said the city would only have $112 million to build the entire facility, including the aquatic centre, ice rinks, library, multi-purpose space and district park.

"It would have killed the project," Knack suggested.

The cost of the project has increased over the past couple of years, with the latest estimate of the full facility pegged at $370 million.

The $311 million is a scaled-down version of the original design that included a 53-metre competitive length pool and a deep-diving portion.

In its proposed capital budget, administration reduced the scope by $57.9 million to build instead a 25-metre pool.

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Councillors Erin Rutherford, Keren Tang, Ashley Salvador and Anne Stevenson voted in favour of reducing the budget for Lewis Farms.

Stevenson said the design doesn't match the city's emissions reduction goals.

"I just worry about the scale and the scope on a building that I don't think is aligned with all of our future vision in terms of climate change."

Rutherford said that the rec centre doesn't align with the city's new carbon budget.

"I struggle with the fact we are building an LRT and that LRT does not connect to this rec centre," Rutherford said.

Rutherford also expressed concern that the big budget for Lewis Farms would compromise the likelihood of building smaller parks around the city.

The Big Five

Lewis Farms also has the endorsement of Mayor Amarjeet Sohi who noted that Lewis Farms is the fifth and last of the mega rec centres that the city started planning in 2005, includingTerwillegar, Commonwealth, the Meadows and Clareview.

"Everywhere in the city deserves equitable access to recreation facilities," Sohi said.

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Sohi also suggested having local options for recreation facilities can help cut back on carbon emissions created from vehicles.

"Before the Meadows rec centre was built, we would drive over to either Terwillegar or we would drive over to Hardisty," Sohi said. "Now we walk over to Meadows, or I bike over to Meadows."