Parksville Aquatic and Recreation Centre Update

June 24, 2021

In May, Council approved the hiring of consultants to conduct formal public consultation and site condition assessments for the Parksville Aquatic and Recreation Centre, also known as the Multiplex. To that end, we have brought in a team of public engagement experts from HDR, Inc. to spearhead renewed public consultation efforts and ensure everyone in Parksville has a seat at the table. Starting in July through to the end of October, HDR will lead a campaign to inform the public about project development to date, gather feedback and ideas from the public, host in-person open houses or workshops, and more.

WSP Canada Inc, a professional environmental and technical consultation firm, will supplement last year’s feasibility study by conducting a thorough land analysis and site condition assessment to evaluate current site plans and conceptual designs. HDR will work closely with WSP to include regular study updates and technical results in public engagement materials.

We wish to thank residents for your continued interest in the proposed project. We’ve been monitoring the discussions online and in our community, and there have been some great conversations about the project, including the location of the facility, concerns about our forests and wetlands, the potential financial burden on our residents, whether we even need a Multiplex, and much more. It is very early in the process and we know people want more details.

We hear you, and it’s time to start an active dialogue about the Parksville Aquatic and Recreation Centre. A degree of misinformation is causing confusion about the project, and we want to set the story straight. HDR is looking forward to working directly with the community to address concerns, hearing your thoughts and ideas, and bringing the public vision of this project to fruition. HDR is also looking forward to reviewing the results of these public engagement activities with Parksville Council to help with future decisions on the project. All comments received to date have been provided to HDR.

We also wish to be clear that no final decisions have been made about the Multiplex. This project came from you -- it was borne from the Mayor’s Roundtable centred around community priorities in 2019, which led to a resident survey later that year and stakeholder engagement sessions with community representatives in March 2020. We had always planned to follow up with comprehensive public consultation activities throughout 2020, but plans were put on hold due to the pandemic. Now, it’s time to pick up where we left off. This is your aquatic and recreation centre, and we want to collaborate with you to make it a true community centre for everyone in Parksville.

As a reminder, detailed information about the project lives on the Parksville Aquatic and Recreation Centre page of Let’s Talk Parksville, where you can read a summary of the project’s feasibility study, learn about where the idea originated, view some conceptual ideas about what it could look like, review the phased approach to public consultation and design, and more. If you wish to be added to the HDR mailing list to receive project updates and notices of upcoming public consultation opportunities, please send an email to HDR@parksville.ca. Stay tuned, you’ll be hearing much more from HDR in the coming weeks.

For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
dtardiff@parksville.ca; 250 954-3073