Goderich Deputy Mayor Trevor Bazinet has announced that council has approved some changes to the way the town delivers its recreational services.
Bazinet says a vote was carried out following the completion of a comprehensive Community Recreational Needs Assessment that was conducted in 2021.
“Council voted unanimously that effective September 1st the town of Goderich would be taking over the ice surface, Bannister Park, Victoria Park and Columbus Park. Any staff members that work at the ice facility at the Maitland Recreation Centre would then become a Goderich employee," Bazinet said.
The town will also take over the operation of the Memorial Arena. Bazinet says over fifty per cent of the people that filled out the survey said they wanted the town to take more of an ownership role in management of the ice surface, the baseball diamonds and outdoor tennis courts.
“The YMCA's still going to be in the facility. They're going to be still running their programming that they do an excellent job of. They're going to run the wellness centre still, run the walking track, the gymnasium, the child minding, all of those things that the YMCA normally does, they will continue to do," added Bazinet.
Bazinet adds, at this point, they don't know what the financial impact of the change will be. He says they expect to have that worked out within the next week or so.