The proposed outdoor recreation facility and community hub near Paul Kane High School received $150,000 from Co-op as part of the company's community spaces program, on Monday.
Co-op hosted a community barbecue June 27 at the St. Albert Public Schools office on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue to present Active Communities Alberta (ACA) with the $150,000 cheque. Students from multiple schools were treated to a barbecue lunch for the second last day of school.
“We’re excited to have now raised over $4-million in funding towards construction of the facility," said Matt Bachewich, the president of ACA, in an interview before the barbecue.
"[We're] certainly very appreciative of Co-op stepping up and providing a substantial contribution towards this project.”
Carla Debert, the director of marketing and community relations for North Central Co-op, gave a short speech at the event before presenting Bachewich with the $150,000 cheque.
During his own speech, Bachewich said the ACA was very appreciative to be awarded the funding from Co-op. The outdoor recreation facility, Bachewich said, will help "generations today, and generations to come" stay active.
The money received from Co-op will be put towards the facility's lighting system, Bachewich said.
A crew of more than 10 people representing North Central Co-op were behind the grill, taking breathers when they could between the staggered arrival of hundreds of hungry students coming for hot dogs. North Central Co-op is the local association that operates Co-op businesses in Stony Plain, Sherwood Park, Edmonton, St. Albert, Legal, and Fort Saskatchewan.
A few politicians were also on-hand for the community barbecue, including Michael Cooper, the member of parliament representing St. Albert, Coun. Mike Killick, Coun. Ken MacKay, and Coun. Shelley Biermanski.
City funding still undecided
When ACA requested funding for the outdoor facility from the city in January of this year, council passed a motion that required ACA to meet three conditions before council would decide, including limiting the potential funding amount the city would consider to $1.5 million.
The conditions, all of which have been met by ACA as of June 12, were to raise a minimum of $3 million for the project, gather public feedback and submit a report to council, and have an independent body do a financial review of the project's plans.
The financial review was completed and submitted to the city on May 28, and the public feedback report was submitted on June 12, Bachewich said.
As part of the motion passed by council in January, once ACA meets all three requirements, council will have 60 days to decide whether to fund the construction of the facility.
In an email, a communications supervisor for the city, Marci Ng, said there is currently no confirmed date for council to discuss the funding request.
The St. Albert facility is one of 13 projects across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to receive funding from Co-op's community spaces program this year.
“We’re thrilled that through Co-op Community Spaces such a worthwhile, local project was selected to receive $150,000 in support," Dean McKim, CEO of North Central Co-op, said in a news release from June 15.
“I look forward to watching local groups utilize the space and lacing up my own skates once the facility is operational.”
McKim was one of the grill masters from Co-op serving up hot dogs at the community barbecue.
The other two Alberta-based projects to receive funding from Co-op are located in Rimbey and Red Deer. The Rimbey project is a new outdoor rink, and a new playground is planned for Red Deer.
