Active Communities Alberta is a non-profit organization that is focused on delivering recreation and community infrastructure – in a manner that minimizes impact on taxpayers. Our organization is made up entirely of volunteers, many of whom have children and grandchildren being raised in St. Albert. I am the proud grandfather of eight grandchildren growing up here in St. Albert.
Our non-profit is leading a project to bring a sport and community campus to St. Albert. The facility is expected to feature multiple gymnasiums, arenas, a fitness centre, outdoor fields, a daycare, space for community and non-profit organizations, and retail space – with additional amenities through future expansion. The cost for the average St. Albert household would be less than $5 per month.
The nonprofit model for recreation facilities is expected to save the St. Albert taxpayers approximately $1 million annually compared to a city-run facility – which could work out to savings of $50 million over the lifetime of the facility. The non-profit model has been successful for over 30 years in cities such as Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer.
We have enjoyed a productive working relationship with St. Albert, and on June 29 city council approved a "value for money" independent study of our project. We appreciate the support we have received from St. Albert and look forward to having the assessment completed. On that same day, the provincial government announced $10 billion in infrastructure funding as part of COVID-19 recovery and we are working to access a portion of this funding. Our facility is expected to create more than 200 jobs during construction and an additional 100 permanent jobs which will support the government in getting Albertans back to work during these challenging times.
Community engagement and feedback is very important to us. Over the course of the past three years, we have held meetings and workshops with over 50 local sport and community organizations – including arena, gymnasium and outdoor field users – in addition to many volunteer organizations and citizens of St. Albert. The insights gathered during this outreach have been incredibly valuable in refining the facility vision. If you would like to provide feedback or have questions, please contact us at: [email protected].
Once again, our objective is to provide a much needed facility for St. Albert and the surrounding region using a tax-effective operating model.
Kelly Smith, vice-president
Active Communities Alberta
