Aurora parks and recreation, sport plans taking shape

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 3, 2015
By Teresa Latchford

While the recommendations for Aurora’s parks and recreation master plan and sport plan look promising, Stephen Kimmerer is eager to see council put the money where their mouth is.

The final public consultation meeting regarding the creation of the plan that is meant to guide the future of the town’s leisure facilities into the year 2021 has wrapped up and the final versions of the master and sport plans are expected to be presented at the Jan. 19 general committee meeting.

“It’s great to have a plan, but (council) has to be prepared to fund it,” Kimmerer said. Sport Aurora, an organization representing 31 sport organizations, played a large role in the consultation process, especially the sport plan. The organization created a working paper outlining the sporting needs of the community and much of its input has been used in the draft sport plan.

“We are heading in the right direction,” he said. “But one of our concerns, besides the funding, is that there is more information available out there that needs to be included in the plan.”

While Kimmerer is encouraged by a recent motion put forth by Aurora Councillor Michael Thompson at a recent finance committee meeting to allocate $10,000 toward the creation of the sport plan, much more money will be needed to fulfill its recommendations.

“They need to first decide what they want to build, because a single gymnasium isn’t going to cut it, especially for tournaments,” he said. “We all need to be looking at the big picture, not just at our own needs.”

The draft Aurora sport plan makes eight recommendations including the development of a sport policy, making Sport Aurora an official sport council and creating a sport development officer position within the parks and recreation department.

It further suggests the establishment of a sport funding model, providing physical literacy training to those who work with children and culturally diverse groups, reducing barriers - including cost - for sport opportunities, engaging older adults in physical activities and developing a broad-based sport marketing and sport tourism strategy.

The draft parks and recreation master plan lays out 41 recommendations, including an expansion of the Stronach Aurora Recreation Complex to accommodate a gymnasium, multi-purpose program spaces and a fitness centre, evaluating current facilities to encourage socializing, collecting data on the usage of town programs and facilities, delivering youth-friendly services and investigating if the former public library on Victoria Street can be a location for the delivery of services.

The draft also recommends the town only take on an indoor tennis facility if it can partner with an operator.

The creation of a sports field complex with three lit, rectangular fields - one of which would be being designated multi-use - the construction of one outdoor artificial turf field, the addition of two outdoor tennis courts in the northeast quadrant,  an outdoor pickle ball court, integration of minor skateboard and biking zones into parks and an urban water feature as well as two splash pads are also listed among the recommendations.

The document also recommends the town continue to acquire parkland and develop the trail system.

“I am very happy with the way things are going,” parks and recreation director Al Downey said. “This will be the catalyst for a lot of discussion, but it will be a living document that can be amended when needs arise.”

For example, the need for an indoor tennis facility wasn’t included in the current master plan, but there is a need in the community now that Timberlane Athletic Club is closing.

He feels the input and engagement of the community throughout the consultation process will only strengthen the document that will become what council looks at when making parks, recreation or sport decisions in the future.

While the scheduled public consultation opportunities have wrapped up, unless members of council request another, members of the public can continue to send comments or questions to Downey by emailing adowney@aurora.ca.