Published: December 29, 2018
Built in 1949, the Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre at Oak Park is one of the oldest in the city and it’s time for an upgrade.
A needs assessment for the new 40,000-plus square-foot facility was completed this year and, Mack said, staff will be going out to the community again in 2019 to look at the 13-acre park as a whole and where the new community centre will fit in.
“We need to do a park master plan to help site this new facility in the park,” she said. “There’s going to be a lot of change. We want to get out there and learn what is important to the community for the park.”
As well, staff will move into the design phase for the new centre.
Mack said the plan is to keep the existing community centre open and running until the new one is built.
“Eventually when the new centre opens we can turn the old centre into greenspace,” she said. “We want to make sure it’s a vibrant and green park throughout.”
New outdoor pool
The planning around the future for Oak Park and the new Marpole Community Centre will also include an outdoor pool.
Back in January, park board commissioners approved the construction of a new full-sized outdoor pool at that location.
“Through our master planning process for the park and the facilities we have to figure out where that’s going to fit,” Mack said. “There’s always indoor/outdoor synergies when you have an outdoor pool, you need washrooms, you need mechanical systems, so it’s a logical place and we’re going to look forward to talking to the community about how that’s going to best fit.”