Ward 9 Councillor Bill Marra and the Friends of Fontainebleau are disappointed council voted against a new community centre during capital budget deliberations.
Marra put forward a motion to include the design and engineering work for an addition to the library as part of the enhanced capital budget.
"I brought it forward as an opportunity. Not to build the facility but to get the engineering and design done and I've learned from my experience that when you have plans available to be funded, you position yourself well especially when there's senior government funding available," says Marra.
He says the community in the area is very engaged and deserves some programming space.
"They're pretty bummed out about it to be honest with you. They put a lot of work into it and this is a group that's been around for almost 20 years. But they recognize that it was a political process to identify projects and votes took place and we'll move forward," says Marra.
The capital budget did include funding for a new recreation master plan, which has not been updated since 1989. Most councillors felt funding a design for a new community centre before the plan was complete was "putting the cart before the horse".
The master plan will address the indoor recreation needs of the entire city.
