Some members of city council are encouraging staff to find a way to reopen the Queensborough Community Centre earlier than what’s planned.
Steve Kellock, acting director of parks and recreation, said the original plan was for the Queensborough Community Centre to reopen in October, which is the same timeline of all community centre spaces, including pools and arenas.
“We have been trying to pull forward here, wherever possible, activities that could start earlier,” he recently told council. “Across the board, staff are looking at where it is feasible within the budget envelop that we have requested and put forward, to try and introduce activities even earlier than what is publicly stated. Our official plan would be to start in October and to see if there is anything that can be opened up sooner than that.”
Kellock said staff is also working to see if it’s possible to provide some access to facilities, even if all programs can’t resume initially.
Coun. Mary Trentadue said she’d like the city to try and open the Queensborough Community Centre earlier if possible.
“We do have more amenities on this side of the bridge. I think it’s challenging when you live in Queensborough not to have the community centre to access, and also the library,” she said. “The closure of the community centre has affected the closure of the library. My concern is that October is going to come along and we are going to start to reopen and we may potentially have to close again. If there is any way that we can highlight that particular space and get it open sooner I think that would be a real benefit for the community.”
Trentadue raised the issue when council received a report that mentioned the uptown branch of the public library will reopen in August, but the Queensborough branch won’t open until the community centre reopens.
Coun. Patrick Johnstone agreed.
“I think the library in Queensborough is a really important asset, and we do need to think about how we can fit into library opening timeframe, as opposed to the timeframe that we are using for other recreational type community centres,” he said. “I think the way that (facility) is used is really important.”
