Staff for the Municipality of the County of Antigonish and the Town of Antigonish are waiting to hear back on a funding request for a needs assessment related to recreation spaces in the area.
Back in December, representatives for People for an Antigonish Recreation Centre made a presentation to Antigonish County Council asking for support in creating a working group looking into recreation spaces in the area.
Following the meeting, county council voted on a trio of motions; that council direct staff to allocate a staff members to the PARC working group; that council allocate 1-2 council members to join the working group from January until the end of March 2025, and that council direct staff to liaise with the PARC group and prepare a report for presentation at a future meeting on what would be involved in a needs assessment for a community, sports, and recreation centre, including a study of existing facility utilization, and how much that needs assessment might cost. Three county councillors then joined the working group.
Since then, both county and Antigonish Town Councils voted to offer $25,000 each for a needs assessment. The total cost of the assessment is $75,000, with the municipalities taking the lead in requesting the remaining costs from other levels of government.
County Warden Nicholas MacInnis said feedback received showed a need in council attention and support for improving the utilization of community centres. He said they also heard from several sport organizations about issues accessing local facilities.
MacInnis said they are now waiting to hear back from other levels of government about funding for the needs assessment.
