Back in December, representatives of People for an Antigonish Recreation Centre came before Antigonish Town and County councils asking for support in creating a working group to explore how they can create a recreation centre in the area.
The councils each allocated a staff member, with 2 councillors from the town and three from the county to join the PARC working group. Stephanie Cooper, a representative from PARC, said the group met three times in January, February, and March. She said the purpose of the meetings was to allow for more time to gather feedback and information on the current climate of recreation facilities in the community.
PARC attended the recent committee of the whole meetings for the Town and County, where they requested $25,000 from each council for needs assessment, with PARC looking to raise another $25,000 to cover the $75,000 cost. Cooper said PARC initially wanted to ask for funding for a feasibility study but though the working group, they realized it’s no longer about building a rec centre but gathering information on the existing recreation facilities in the area and identifying how they are being used and accessed.
Should they get the funding, Cooper said they will need to determine if they can apply for grants through the municipalities or if they will need to register for non-profit status.
