The District of Tofino says it’s open to all suggestions and options to fund a long-planned recreation centre, which now has an estimated price tag in excess of $14 million.
Private sector partners, community benefactors, borrowing, and tax increases are all being looked at.
“We’ve got to meet this need,” said Mayor Dan Law. “It’s a longstanding community need and we’ve seen the effects of not addressing it for many years. So we’re going to do whatever we can, however we can, to see if we can get this thing built and built quickly.”
The estimated cost of the centre, which council has been planning for years, has grown significantly due to increased material and labour costs. At the same time, the government grants Tofino may be able to get for it are likely to cover only half the construction cost.
When Tofino council last applied for a grant for the project, in 2019, it asked for $10.1 million. Now the cost of the centre is estimated to be more than $14 million.
Council has directed staff to apply for a grant under the federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program, which funds public community buildings in high-need and under-served communities.
Law said Tofino ticks both those boxes.
“Our community, as it has for the past couple of decades, is suffering for it,” he said.
“I’ve watched families leave in pursuit of both recreation and education opportunities that just aren’t here. We have to step up and we have to support our youth. We have to support our families, and we also have to support our aging population who are looking for health and wellness opportunities indoors.
“As an elected official, one of my primary responsibilities is for the health and wellbeing of our residents — that is what this is for.”
Law is the first to admit the price tag is high, even for Tofino, where builders often have to factor in accommodation and transportation costs for work crews and equipment.
“Tofino is fairly used to seeing surprising cost escalations for our projects,” he said.
“But at the present time, we don’t have a locally accessible indoor recreation facility, which is extremely unusual, if not unique, for communities of our size.”
The centre, to be adjacent to the Tofino Community Centre on Arnet Road, would address the need for indoor space for sports, fitness and community events. It would include a gym, multi-purpose room and other space.
“It’s been too long that our community and our residents have been going without something that really is a baseline for so many other communities,” he said.
The federal program could fund up to half of the $14 million, and Law said they are already working on funding options to make up the shortfall.
There could be smaller provincial grants, as the building will use mass-timber construction, which the province has been incentivizing. They are also open to financial help from community members.
There could also be levies beyond property taxes, such as the pay parking recently introduced to offset the infrastructure costs of the resort community of 2,500, which has to handle a population of 10,000 for half the year.
“We’re probably looking at borrowing and we’re also reaching out to our community,” said Law. “We’ve got some tremendously generous residents who have donated for things like the downtown park. I think there’s multiple options besides just property tax.”
If it comes down to it, Law believes residents will support a tax rise to get the project done.
“Our taxes are a social investment and we all pull from that pot and we all put back in,” he said. “So when we’re talking about the health and wellbeing of our residents, our children, our families, our youth, our older folks, this is what our social investment is for. I think people will get on board.”
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