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What Did the Assessment Study Find?
Our recreation buildings are rapidly aging.
68% of BC’s indoor recreation facilities are 25 years or older.*
42% of BC’s indoor recreation facilities are 35 years or older.*
The Inventory and Analysis Phases used five “life-cycle stages” based on building age to evaluate the condition of BC’s recreation facilities. Although many factors contribute to the long-term viability of a facility, life-cycle provides a standard scale by which to measure and compare the state of our facilities. The Validation Audit confirmed that the majority of recreation facilities studied exhibited physical conditions consistent with age.
Typically, as a facility’s life-cycle stage increases, operational costs and the need for capital upgrades escalate dramatically, while energy efficiency and functionality decline.
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Our population continues to grow.
In the next ten years, BC Stats population predictions suggest that 575,900 or 13% more people will be living in BC. By 2035 we could have over 6 million residents. An obvious disparity exists: Our population is increasing rapidly while our recreation infrastructure is declining just as quickly.
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Our older buildings don’t match our new lifestyles.
Wear and tear is not the only problem a building faces as it ages. Functional obsolescence, which is a loss in utility due to changing demand from its users, affects older buildings that can’t be retrofitted to accommodate new uses. Functional obsolescence can impair the utility of a facility and diminish public support of existing recreation assets.
Our investments have been inconsistent.
Inconsistent funding has led to uneven investment periods for recreation infrastructure. The late 1960s and the 1970s saw a surge in recreation infrastructure funding and the result was the development of an essential base of facilities that have been serving our communities for over 30 years. The investment surge was followed by a decline in spending on recreation. This scenario has generated a deficit in which a large number of our recreation buildings are now nearing the end of their useful life spans and require extensive renovation or complete replacement.
Our recent investment hasn’t kept up.
By looking at capital investment in indoor recreation infrastructure over time, we can see that our recent investment has not kept up. In the 1970s, our per person investment in recreation infrastructure was almost three times the per person investment of the 1990s. Our lack of recent investment in recreation facilities is contrary to our rising awareness that recreation and physical activity are vital to our everyday lives.
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The results of the Facilities Assessment Study show that investment in BC’s recreation facilities is now critical. As many of our facilities reach the end of their life spans, reinvestment is needed. This time, however, we call for more than a large, one-time investment.
It is time for long-term renewal that ensures a sustainable, ongoing future for our recreation facilities.
*Facility age statistics are taken from the Facility Assessment Study Analysis Phase completed in 2007. Today these numbers would be higher.
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