The City of Weyburn gave a presentation on the new Recreation and Culture Centre to be built in Jubilee Park and connected to the new elementary school building.

The design has two floors with a combination of art facilities and sports facilities including rooms available for community groups, businesses and organisations to use for meetings.

Matthew Warren, Acting City Manager, City of Weyburn, is looking forward to seeing construction start.

"We can't wait to have it started. Right now we are looking at for construction in October this year with September 2020 for completion."

"The big thing for us is to make sure that we have more than just a facility for sport and recreation, we want to make sure there are culture and art opportunities as well." He explained Signal Hill Arts Centre will be amalgamated into the new facility and showed where the Art rooms and equipment will be in the designs.

The switch from Signal Hill to the new recreation centre will happen upon completion of the project in 2020.

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Second-floor plan design of the Recreation and Culture Centre, image submitted by City of Weyburn

In the building plans there is a running/walking track on the second floor to allow for all-year-round accessibility to runners and walkers. A large gym suitable for indoor sports is also planned on the main floor.

The art rooms will be on the main floor including messy rooms and kilns for clay projects. There will also be a commercial space for a coffee shop and concessions.

Hockey players using the new outdoor hockey rink planned will have access to the changing rooms to change in the warmth. 

State-of-the-art training rooms are planned where people can practise batting, hockey and other sports indoors also year-round.

The new elementary school will be connected to the RCC but owned and operated by South East Cornerstone Public School Division. The RCC will be managed by the City of Weyburn. There are some shared spaces and with user agreements being written up to govern how those shared spaces will operate.

Council were impressed with the amount of work that has gone into the project so far

Councillor Dick Michel confirmed with Warren on the availability of the building for user groups such as Pickle Ball who are seeing a growth in popularity.

Warren replied opening times are yet to be confirmed but there will be an upstairs gym which will remain open so there should be opportunities for people to use the space.

The cost of construction has yet to be confirmed but estimates suggest between $22-25 million. The bid for construction is going to tender around August.

Councillor Winston Bailey said the facility and the number is huge for the community but this is planning for the future and a responsible vision to take.

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Main floor design for Recreation and Culture Centre, image submitted by the City of Weyburn.