February 7, 2018 (Council/Committee)

AD-HOC WELLNESS AND POOL RECREATIONAL COMMITTEE
POOLCOMPLEXINPS@GMAIL.COM
WWW.PSCOMPLEX.COM
Executive Summary and purpose of deputation:
Requesting Council to appoint an elected official to the Recreational Advisory Complex
Committee which will investigate and determine the feasibility of a recreational wellness and
pool complex in Parry Sound.
Dear Council,
On behalf the Ad-Hoc Wellness and Pool Recreational Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
make a short deputation about a Wellness and Pool complex in the Parry Sound Area. With so many
other pressing community issues before you, we appreciate the time on your agenda.
The purpose of our deputation is to provide additional background and highlight our key request, that
has been made to all seven municipalities. At this time, we asking for an elected official from your
council to be appointed to a Recreational Advisory Complex Committee.
The purpose of the Recreational Advisory Complex Committee is to investigate and determine the
feasibility of a recreational wellness and pool complex in Parry Sound.
We are not asking you for a decision about wellness/pool complex, we are simply requesting for your
participation at the table.
As you know, and is outlined on our website (www.pscomplex.com/pages/history), a wellness/pool
complex has been discussed in the rooms and hallways of Parry Sound, for decades.
In 2010, during the time that the YMCA was assuming responsibility of management and operations
of the former Optimist centre, a feasibility study was completed, pubic was consulted, councils were
engaged, and a few other activities, leading to a public presentation of a wellness/pool complex in
June 2010. (www.pscomplex.com/pages/history).
In short, the information in 2010 showed that for an approximately 15,500 sq foot wellness/pool
complex, costing around $7.5 million to build, a municipal subsidy for the ongoing, annual, operating
costs of approximately $250,000, would be required. This translated into approximately $13/year per
person in the region. While different funding formulas, such as population based, tax assessment,
reallocating Belvedere’s municipal contribution, and others were deliberated, everything grounded to
a halt because we did not have all seven municipalities at the table to discuss, let alone agree on a
solution.
More recently, following the announcement of the new K12 school in our area, in 2015, the Town of
Parry Sound invited all municipalities to again, simply come to the table for a discussion, but only a
handful of municipalities responded.
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