St. Albert will not be able to afford the new community support centre so long as members of council continue to expand the scope of the project beyond its original vision.
Following a recent update to city council, it appears that the chances of the city being able to pay for this new building, even in its current form, are shrinking. Depending on where the centre is built, the cost ranges anywhere from approximately $17 million to $25 million. And that’s without incorporating the feedback of every other community group and exploring the idea of putting condos on top. Or including a branch library.
Chris Jardine, the general manager of community and protective services, warned council against “blowing this up” to the point at which it would be too expensive, but council – particularly Couns. Cathy Heron and Len Bracko – seems to think the city has plenty of extra money. It’s Heron who wants to include as many non-profits as possible, while Bracko wants to throw condos into the mix.
Both appear to be good ideas on the surface but at some point, even at this early stage, council has to start acknowledging what the city can realistically afford and what it cannot. Yes, a building that can be shared by several community groups –like the 50+ Club, Stop Abuse in Families and the youth centre – sounds great. Groups like these are most often forced to fend for themselves where capital expenditures are concerned.
But this council is already forging ahead with an estimated $37-million park-and-ride facility on the condition the province funds two-thirds of the cost. And yet even when it received the latest update on the park and ride, with the news the estimated price had mushroomed from $30 million to $37 million, council’s initial reaction was to figure out how to reduce the cost.
So if the city is looking at ways to shed a few million dollars from a mostly grant-funded program, how is it going to build a $25-million building that includes a $9-million parkade? Does this city really have the financial capacity to fork out one-third the cost of the park and ride and the cost of the community support centre over the next three to four years to complete both projects?
The answer is no. Even if the city could find a beneficial financing model or arrange a public-private-partnership, taxpayers would be paying off this bill for a long time.
When it comes to a community support centre, it’s unlikely that St. Albert’s non-profits would be able to pay enough monthly on their leases to pay off any loan. Yes, the 50+ Club needs a new space, as its building is past the end of its useful life, but most of the other non-profits have adequate space. Council should focus on a new space for the 50+ Club instead of giving every St. Albert non-profit a home that is more of a want than a need.
