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Investing for Today and Tomorrow
With more than 68% of our recreation infrastructure over 25 years old and an over $4 billion deficit, we are now at a critical crossroads. It is time to turn away from one-time short sighted investments to a life-cycle approach to recreation infrastructure.
A New Approach to Recreation Infrastructure
The BCRPA is suggesting a new approach to partnership programs for recreation infrastructure funding – one that supports life-cycle management. Three program components are envisioned:
- Recreation Renewal Program: An on-going capital fund for indoor and outdoor recreation projects, both major and minor.
- Recreation Partnership Planning Program: A component to encourage co-operative and efficient program delivery.
- Recreation Life-Cycle Program: A new program to promote life-cycle information sharing and preventative action.
Each proposed program may include funding from local, provincial and federal governments, although the proportion of funding may vary among program components.
Current infrastructure programs are focused on rejuvenating the economy in the short term. In addition to this stimulus, we recommend that recreation infrastructure funding programs be designed for the long-term to provide sustainable funding and avoid a ‘once in 30-year wave of investment’ scenario that leads to recurring recreation deficits.
Recreation Renewal Program
The Recreational Renewal Program would utilize a similar arrangement to existing federal, provincial and local shared funding agreements. However, refinements to the program funding would change project delivery to include additional partnership and life-cycle approaches.
Funded project planning should include, in addition to the funding priorities defined on Page 11 of this report, a detailed life-cycle maintenance and operations plan that:
- Sets out approximate timing and budgets for on-going maintenance; and
- Establishes the expected longevity and replacement costs of all major facility components.
A recommended element for the Recreation Renewal Program is a central, standardized web-based data system that compiles capital, operating and maintenance cost reporting from new or renewed facilities, so that a province-wide database on recreation facility life-cycle planning can be maintained.
“Keeping up is not just a matter of replacing aging facilities. It is a commitment to family and community life that lies at the very core of the society we cherish.”
– Kevin Pike, Former Director of Parks & Community Services, District of West Vancouver
Recreation Partnership Planning Program
Use of recreation and sport facilities often transcends municipal boundaries and recreational interests. Funding construction and operation of such facilities is best accomplished through partnerships among neighbouring jurisdictions, private interests and/or non-governmental organizations, with assistance from senior governments. To ensure funding opportunities are explored and effective partnerships are formed, we propose a Recreation Partnership Planning Program to provide a pool of funds to:
- Promote co-operative facility planning among adjacent municipal and regional governments, with a goal to maximize benefits and inclusivity and avoid facility redundancy;
- Seek opportunities for private and/or NGO partnerships for capital and operational funding;
- Fund studies to analyze the demand for both high-performance sport facilities and recreational facilities to achieve an appropriate gradation of services throughout the province;
- Support production of preliminary designs and accurate cost estimates for capital, maintenance and life-cycle planning; and
- Support partnership organization and fund-raising efforts.
Recreation Life-Cycle Program
When facility maintenance and upgrades occur when needed, a facility’s lifespan increases dramatically. Competing demands for municipal operating finances has often left gaps in local funding for maintenance. These difficult funding situations can lead to premature obsolescence or unsafe facilities, translating into requests to senior governments for replacement funding. To avoid premature facility failure, we propose a joint Recreation Life-Cycle Program to:
- Support development of a province-wide database on typical life-cycle best management practices, needs and associated budget requirements;
- Complete and maintain a province-wide database on existing recreation facilities;
- Provide on-going training to maintenance and operations personnel on appropriate life-cycle maintenance practices;
- Publish print and web-based information in support of life-cycle maintenance and renewal practices; and
- Develop challenge grants for on-going life-cycle maintenance, to encourage identified ‘preventative maintenance or greening initiative’ projects that extend a facility’s usefulness and efficiency and/or lower its operating expenses.
The Recreation Renewal Program and its component programs should be sustained at an adequate level to address the recreation deficit and required new capacity over a 20-year period. Once the recreation deficit is erased, on-going funding should be steady-state to provide on-going life-cycle renewal and increased capacity in step with population change.
“The renewal of park and recreational facility infrastructure across the province will be a huge undertaking: the resulting benefits in terms of health and social cohesion will be equally enormous.”
– Mark Vulliamy, Manager of Planning & Research, Vancouver Park Board
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