The Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre board is taking steps to move ahead with their plans to renovate the Agriplex into a recreation hall.
Earlier this month, the board submitted an application for $125,000 under the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) to help cover some of the costs for the upgrades.
The CFEP grant is offered by the provincial government to assist with projects for building, purchasing, renovating, or upgrading sports, recreation, and cultural-related public use community facilities.
The C2 applied under the small funding stream, which has a maximum amount of $125,000. If approved, the board would be required to match the amount they receive from the grant.
General manager for the C2, Todd Muir, noted the price tag for the upgrades will be more than the grant offers, but it will allow them to do even more renovations to the facility.
The planned upgrades include a sports floor, which is special flooring to accommodate multiple sports, an upper deck viewing area, washroom renovations, roof repairs, and relocating the freezer so it's more accessible for catering.
During their strategic planning last year, the C2 board wanted to get more use out of the Agriplex and decided renovations were necessary. It would bring the Agriplex back to its original function as a hall, which will be available to host events, sports, and meetings. Currently, the facility is being utilized by the bingo association, who will have to relocate before the renovations start.
Mayor Gene Sobolewski, who also sits on the board, noted a major issue in the past has been sports teams that book the field house. According to him, they were often getting pushed by events that needed the space because it accommodates over 300 people.
"That was a major component that I heard, and particularly for the staff trying to figure out how to do the scheduling. Something would come up, and all of the sudden (the team that) had it booked... were bumped for the use of a hall," Sobolewski said.
Muir added, "It's going to serve when our field house is booked for other events. You'll be able to take the events run in the field house and put them in the recreation hall or vice-versa... It's whatever is going to work in the space, and... you'll also see the space being used for weddings and a wide-variety of events."
While they expect to hear if they're approved for the CFEP in the spring, the C2 won't move ahead with renovations until the bingo association finds a new home.
"We're going to be good community partners with that, but we're hoping to be able to start this as soon as March... It really depends on when they find a hall. Right now, their lease goes until the end of February, and I know they're looking for a place. We'll have to time our renovations around that," Muir explained.
The project could begin as early as this spring, or be delayed until the following year.
Sobolewski described the change as "going back to basics" by reintroducing the hall component to the facility.
