Planning for the Future

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE OF THE REVELSTOKE FORUM & CURLING CLUB

UPDATE:

Did you participate in the recent open houses or online survey about the future of the arena?

Everything that was heard during the recent consultation process about planning for the future of the Revelstoke Forum and Curling Club is being presented to Council Tuesday, July 11^th. This information will help inform the next steps in the process to plan for the future.

Here is a link to the agenda: July 11, 2023 Council Agenda

We look forward to confirming the next steps and continuing to work with the community as we proceed.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Built in the 1960s, the Forum is a community hub for many activities. Since it was built, Revelstoke’s population has doubled, and the community’s recreation needs have changed.

The arena requires significant investment to address structural issues. Your input will inform decisions about the future of the facility.

Opportunities to provide input:

• Open House and Arena Tour May 4 from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
• Online survey from April 18 - May 31, 2023
• City staff will also meet with community groups and arena users

THE NEED

The existing roof does not meet current BC Building Code standards for snow loads, and various structural elements supporting the roof continue to deteriorate. Replacement of the arena roof would also trigger additional Building Code upgrades to the facility.

The 42,000 sq ft facility has one ice rink, a concession, seating for 782 and limited storage. The curling club has 4 sheets of ice and viewing area.

A 2017 User Needs Assessment indicates the arena does not fully meet community needs, including lack of accessibility, equipment storage, female change rooms, and safety access.

If a decision is deferred, the City is at risk of a failing roof system and escalating costs to replace or rebuild. If it deteriorates further, or fails, there will be significant impacts to winter sports such as hockey, skating and curling. Planning now will ensure the City is well-positioned for future investment and grant opportunities.

Planning for the future

The City of Revelstoke population is expected to grow by 20% by 2030 and has a younger population overall than the Province of BC, especially in the age ranges from 25 to 39 years. These numbers reflect the relatively large contingent of young families in the community.

Participants within the Parks and Recreation Master Plan consultation process offered low satisfaction rankings for the Revelstoke Forum (28%) and Curling Rink (24%).

Community interest in exploring a multi-use recreation facility that would provide year-round amenities and increased tourism opportunities was expressed in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and Tourism Revelstoke's, Destinations Strategy.

The recently adopted Parks and Recreation Master Plan - informed by extensive public input - recommends exploring a new multi-sport facility, including an arena and other potential uses including (but not limited to) a fitness centre, gymnasium, climbing wall and curling rink. Respondents indicated it was the top priority for facility improvement.

The 2018 - 2022 Destination Tourism Revelstoke Strategy includes a strategy to "work with parks & recreation to determine the feasibility of a future multi-use recreation facility".

OPTIONS

There are several options. Preliminary financial analysis indicates a new arena would provide greater return on investment in terms of improved amenities, programming, and accessibility, and would offer another 50 years of service to the community.

Detailed estimates are not yet developed for any option, however, order of magnitude estimates signal all options would require a multi-million-dollar investment.

Roof replacement will cost several millions and will only extend the life of the arena for a short period of time. On-going capital investments would still be required. Delaying investment will escalate project costs further.

Costs

Funding for any option will require a combination of:

City infrastructure reserves + Borrowing + External grants or partnerships

The residential class is assessed based on current market value from BC Assessment. Residential homes are similar in nature and easier to ‘benchmark’ when they are all assessed using recent sales in the community. The business/other class differs from the residential class since they are assessed on an income-based approach from BC Assessment. This means that one restaurant may have a significantly different assessed value than what we would perceive as a comparable restaurant. In addition, it is very difficult to choose a benchmark business that the entire business community can compare to. Retail, food services, and shot-term accommodators are some examples that are all vastly different and depending on the nature and the size of the operations there would be a wide range of assessed values. Therefore, we have provided a percentage increase and a tax dollar amount per $100,000 of assessed value.

Taxation increases would be phased in over multiple years to help make the increase more manageable for taxpayers.

The taxation impacts listed above are based on a 30 year loan.