KENORA — The City of Kenora says its new Central Community Clubhouse will open by the end of next month.
Kyle Attanasio, the City of Kenora’s chief administrative officer (CAO), said that residents of Kenora's Central neighbourhood will finally be able to use the clubhouse this spring.
Attanasio said the facility's operating model has changed significantly compared to the building it’s replacing, as the new clubhouse will be equipped with a kitchen and space for seasonal programming.
The new model has presented some challenges, but “the city is working really diligently with the volunteers that we have at every community club to figure out how we’re going to work together to make sure that that facility is a success,” he said. “We are getting very close to a grand opening.”
Along with rebuilding the clubhouse at Central Park, work and upgrades at Central have included a new playground, ice rink, volleyball courts and more. Construction at the site began in April 2022, and the clubhouse facility was originally expected to be open that winter.
In recent times, the commonality of supply chain issues at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in delaying the clubhouse’s opening, Attanasio explained.
“We are behind schedule, and we're very sorry and sad that we weren't able to get this facility open this year,” he said, but the clubhouse is almost ready and “it looks wonderful.”
“We're having great conversations about how we can maximize that facility and not just provide a place where people can eat, grab hot chocolate and play hockey, but can also do additional programming — four seasons,” said Attanasio.
With winter coming to an end, hockey players will have to wait until the end of the year to lace up their skates at Central.
Attanasio expects that the clubhouse, meanwhile, will have its grand opening sooner rather than later, "certainly by the end of April."
“We're just going to focus on getting the facility open and activating it for the spring," Attanasio concluded.
The Central Park rebuild has also turned out to be more expensive than the city council initially thought it would be.
The project started with a budget of $766,000, most of which came from federal and provincial grants. In July 2021, the previous council approved an increase to the budget of about $366,400, with money that was originally meant to go toward the former OPP building on Highway 17 East that has since been sold to the consulting firm MNP.
Soon after the installation of the new playground in Aug. 2023, Greg Rickford, the Member of Provincial Parliament for Kenora-Rainy River and chair of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, announced that the NOHFC would provide an additional $490,000 to go towards the final stages of the project.
All in all, the total budget for the project stands at roughly $1.62 million on paper.
The playground, which opened briefly last year before the snow fell, has also received some negative feedback from parents and community members about the structure not being accessible to children with varying physical abilities.
Kenora Miner and News / Local Journalism Initiative
