After being left unfunded in Grande Prairie City Council’s 2024 budget deliberations last fall, council’s proposed covered outdoor structure discussions have been moved to 2025 budget deliberations.
Discussion surrounding the opportunity for a covered outdoor structure has been ongoing since last year, with potential locations in various neighbourhoods in the city such as Swanavon; however, Mayor Jackie Clayton says through public engagement with residents, the project was seemingly unwanted by residents in the neighbourhood.
“They, at first glance, weren’t really interested in this amenity; however in conversations with other neighbourhoods, and people across the community, we’ve learned that there is interest,” she says.
Clayton says council continues to appreciate the proposal “in principle” but higher-than-anticipated costs have halted council’s willingness to move forward.
“At this point, I don’t think council appears to be interested in spending the money, so we’ll defer it to budget deliberations as council thinks it is a good idea in principle, just not looking to ask administration to spend more money developing or designing the amenity,” she says.
The project was originally anticipated to cost the city around $1.2 million and would see a structure available year-round for residents looking to participate in both summer and winter activities.
Council is slated to debate the project once again in Fall 2024 and will determine whether the plan is worth continuing future discussion during budget deliberations.
