Abbottsfield community members inch closer to new recreation centre

EDMONTON- Community members in northeast Edmonton gathered to celebrate Saturday, as they inch one step closer to having a new recreation centre in their neighbourhood.

“Today is the beginning. Today we celebrate,” said Colleen Fidler, the secretary of the Abbottsfield Recreation Centre (ARC) Board.

Construction on the new $6.8 million Abbottsfield Recreation Centre is scheduled to begin this spring.

The following rendering was provided by the City of Edmonton.

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Once opened, the 10,000 square foot facility will provide community members with a broader range of recreational, cultural and educational programs.

“The Abbottsfield Recreation Centre will continue to host the community with quality programming,” Mayor Stephen Mandel said in a release. “The new facility will help foster the pride and strong sense of community in the area.”

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Abbottfield’s current facility has served the community for over 34 years, originally opening as a school in 1979.

“It’s made up of portables… and it has served its purpose, but it’s old and it’s time for something new,” Fidler explained.

The Abbottsfield Recreation Centre provides free or low cost recreation and social programs to children, youth, adults, seniors, and families in high need, low income neighbourhoods. Fidler says the rec centre is a major hub for the community and she’s excited about what it will offer once it’s opened.

“Most people who live here, if they have to travel outside the community to access any type of recreational activity, they don’t do it. It involves travelling by bus, it’s expensive, they can’t do it,” she explained. “Having something newer and bigger just broadens our horizons.”

The new centre will feature a gymnasium with a full-sized basketball court and even a state-of-the-art, fully-equipped kitchen, which community members are extremely excited about.

“Everything that happens in this building has food involved. Everything. So a new kitchen that allows more than six people to be in there at a time will be awesome,” Fidler said.

The new facility is scheduled to be completed and opened to the public in 2014.
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