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DEALING WITH THE ROCKWAY CENTRE
Ioannidis wants seniors’ centre to move west
Ioannidis wants seniors’ centre to move west
By Helen Hall
Kitchener Citizen
May 9, 2013
On May 27, Kitchener councillors will debate what to do about the aging Rockway Centre building, and unfortunately all the options on the table cost money - something they don’t have in the budget.
In early 2010, Kitchener staff presented city council with a report suggesting they close the centre, located at the corner of King Street East and Charles Street, and move seniors’ programming to other community centres in the city.
The building, which was constructed in 1975, needs considerable repairs to its foundation and renovations to make it accessible. It also doesn’t have a gymnasium.
“More seniors are demanding that kind of programming,” said Mark Hildebrand, Director of Community Programs and Services.
However, many Rockway seniors fought back against the building’s closure, and now city staff have come up with eight options to consider to deal with the decaying building and provide seniors with the programming they desire.
They range from doing the minimum of repairing the Rockway foundation and making it accessible (which would cost $2 to $3-million), to building a whole new centre on the Rockway site or at another site in Kitchener, which could cost up to $10-million.
Ward 7 councillor Bil Ioannidis is promoting option 4 - adding an addition onto the Forest Heights Community Centre in his ward and moving programming currently held at the Rockway Centre to west Kitchener. This option is expected to cost $6.5-million.
“The west end makes a lot of sense to me,” said Ioannidis in an interview, explaining the registration at the Rockway Centre has been decreasing, while the numbers of older adults in the Forest Hill and Forest Heights areas is on the rise.
The Forest Heights Community Centre is located near the corner of Fischer-Hallman and Queens Boulevard and has ample parking. Ioannidis said it is close to other facilities that seniors enjoy, such as the pool and Kitchener Public Library on Fischer-Hallman, and is beside a transit hub at the Highland Hills Mall. The Forest Heights Community Centre also shares its building with a fire station and ambulance service.
Ioannidis said he thinks the issue isn’t just about the Rockway building, but more about how and where seniors’ programming should be located in Kitchener. He thinks the Forest Heights option is the most economical, and it is located in an area where seniors’ programming is not currently offered. He has visited several retirement homes in his ward to talk with residents about whether they would participate in seniors’ programming if it were happening nearby.
“To me this is not an emotional issue. It’s a practical one,” he said.
“There is a huge need in our community (for seniors’ programming),” Ioannidis said. “We need to find the funding.”
Ward 9 councillor Frank Etherington has suggested that the city look into a public-private partnership with a developer that might help them share funding for the project. He would like to see the seniors’ programming remain at the Rockway site in his ward.
A report on the possibility of a public-private partnership will be presented at the May 27 meeting, along with another report about considering a heritage designation for the Rockway Centre, Rockway Gardens and part of Rockway Golf Course.
“You can appreciate the complexity of what’s coming forward on May 27,” Hildebrand said.
* * *
EIGHT OPTIONS and ESTIMATED COST
• Repair Rockway Centre and make it accessible - $2 to $3-million
• Expand Rockway Centre preserving heritage exterior of original
building - $10-million
• Replace the Rockway Centre with a Purpose-Built Older Adult
Centre on the Same Site - $8.5-million
• Build an Addition onto Forest Heights Community Centre -
$6.5-million
• Build an Older Adult Recreation Centre on Another Site -
$8.5-million
• Build a Mixed-use Facility on Another Site and Include an Older
Adult Recreation Centre - $8.5-million
• Build a Mixed-Use Structure as an Addition to the Rockway
Centre - $10-million
• Build a Mixed-Use Structure in Place of the Rockway Centre -
$8.5-million
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
• Possibility of public-private partnership
• Possibility of heritage designation
Kitchener Citizen
May 9, 2013
On May 27, Kitchener councillors will debate what to do about the aging Rockway Centre building, and unfortunately all the options on the table cost money - something they don’t have in the budget.
In early 2010, Kitchener staff presented city council with a report suggesting they close the centre, located at the corner of King Street East and Charles Street, and move seniors’ programming to other community centres in the city.
The building, which was constructed in 1975, needs considerable repairs to its foundation and renovations to make it accessible. It also doesn’t have a gymnasium.
“More seniors are demanding that kind of programming,” said Mark Hildebrand, Director of Community Programs and Services.
However, many Rockway seniors fought back against the building’s closure, and now city staff have come up with eight options to consider to deal with the decaying building and provide seniors with the programming they desire.
They range from doing the minimum of repairing the Rockway foundation and making it accessible (which would cost $2 to $3-million), to building a whole new centre on the Rockway site or at another site in Kitchener, which could cost up to $10-million.
Ward 7 councillor Bil Ioannidis is promoting option 4 - adding an addition onto the Forest Heights Community Centre in his ward and moving programming currently held at the Rockway Centre to west Kitchener. This option is expected to cost $6.5-million.
“The west end makes a lot of sense to me,” said Ioannidis in an interview, explaining the registration at the Rockway Centre has been decreasing, while the numbers of older adults in the Forest Hill and Forest Heights areas is on the rise.
The Forest Heights Community Centre is located near the corner of Fischer-Hallman and Queens Boulevard and has ample parking. Ioannidis said it is close to other facilities that seniors enjoy, such as the pool and Kitchener Public Library on Fischer-Hallman, and is beside a transit hub at the Highland Hills Mall. The Forest Heights Community Centre also shares its building with a fire station and ambulance service.
Ioannidis said he thinks the issue isn’t just about the Rockway building, but more about how and where seniors’ programming should be located in Kitchener. He thinks the Forest Heights option is the most economical, and it is located in an area where seniors’ programming is not currently offered. He has visited several retirement homes in his ward to talk with residents about whether they would participate in seniors’ programming if it were happening nearby.
“To me this is not an emotional issue. It’s a practical one,” he said.
“There is a huge need in our community (for seniors’ programming),” Ioannidis said. “We need to find the funding.”
Ward 9 councillor Frank Etherington has suggested that the city look into a public-private partnership with a developer that might help them share funding for the project. He would like to see the seniors’ programming remain at the Rockway site in his ward.
A report on the possibility of a public-private partnership will be presented at the May 27 meeting, along with another report about considering a heritage designation for the Rockway Centre, Rockway Gardens and part of Rockway Golf Course.
“You can appreciate the complexity of what’s coming forward on May 27,” Hildebrand said.
* * *
EIGHT OPTIONS and ESTIMATED COST
• Repair Rockway Centre and make it accessible - $2 to $3-million
• Expand Rockway Centre preserving heritage exterior of original
building - $10-million
• Replace the Rockway Centre with a Purpose-Built Older Adult
Centre on the Same Site - $8.5-million
• Build an Addition onto Forest Heights Community Centre -
$6.5-million
• Build an Older Adult Recreation Centre on Another Site -
$8.5-million
• Build a Mixed-use Facility on Another Site and Include an Older
Adult Recreation Centre - $8.5-million
• Build a Mixed-Use Structure as an Addition to the Rockway
Centre - $10-million
• Build a Mixed-Use Structure in Place of the Rockway Centre -
$8.5-million
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
• Possibility of public-private partnership
• Possibility of heritage designation