Representatives from People for an Antigonish Recreation Centre are hoping for a formal statement from the Town and County of Antigonish regarding a needs assessment and its funding.
Previously, PARC representatives made presentations to Antigonish Town and County Councils asking for support in creating a working group looking into recreation spaces in the area. The councils later voted to allocated staff and council members to form the working group, which met over the spring, and prepare a report on what would be involved in a needs assessment for a community, sports, and recreation centre, including a study of existing facility utilization.
Since then, both county and Antigonish Town Councils voted to offer $25,000 each for a needs assessment, following requests from PARC. The estimated cost of the assessment is $75,000, with the municipalities taking the lead in requesting the remaining costs from other levels of government.
Stephanie Cooper, with PARC, said she reached out to representatives from the town and county as well as the working group last week asking for a statement on the funding and budget allocations, and whether the funding needs to be used by the end of the fiscal year.
Cooper said PARC is willing and available to help if there is a need and thanked the community for their support.