A move meant to improve the lives of children in Sherwood Park has instead pitted groups of adults against each other.
The Strathcona County Boys and Girls Club already serves more than 2,000 kids but has a waiting list of 800 more and wants to build a new facility.
It would be a two-storey, net-zero building with space for a variety of programming.
The BGC and county have agreed on a piece of land in the Brentwood neighbourhood, beside the community’s elementary school — but some area residents are pushing back against the plan that would see the building constructed where a grove of trees currently sits.
The BGC has wanted a new facility for a decade now but securing land and enough money to construct a building has been an obstacle for the non-profit.
BGC board president Alison Ottewell said the organization had been in talks with Strathcona County since spring of 2022 about identifying an appropriate piece of land.
The club also applied to the federal government’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program and in December 2022, heard back that it could have 60 per cent of its $10-million facility covered by the GICB program — if it had land ready to go by the end of February.
“Having the federal government announce this really put some pressure on us,” Ottewell said.
The club and county quickly began assessing possible options and determined land beside Brentwood Elementary School was the best fit.
“Working in conjunction with administration from the county, we were able to secure the Brentwood location — which was a key element in order to be able to submit the grant application for the GICB funding,” Ottewell said.
A public hearing was held Feb.14, where council heard from more than 35 speakers both for and against the Brentwood Elementary School site.
The county decided to remove the land’s municipal reserve status so it could be donated to the BGC.
The county said it considers handing over reserve land for projects such as schools, affordable housing projects, community hubs/halls, sports fields and buildings.
Each request is looked at on a case-by-case basis to see if it’s a good fit for the area, Strathcona County Mayor Rod Frank said.
“It’s a very normal process for organizations to come forward and want to contribute to the community and they need land, in some cases,” Frank said.
Frank said council agreed to grant the land this before the February deadline, but that was conditional on BGC securing federal funding and consulting area neighbours on the plan.
The county also said the Boys and Girls Club needs to replace any trees and habitat removed because of the construction.
“The ball’s in BGC’s court right now. They have to come back, shows the conditions have been met: shows they talked to the neighbourhood, show us that they’re going to replace the trees and the habitat, and show us that they have the funding.
“So until they go over those hurdles, nothing’s going to happen.”
It isn’t a done deal and some residents are working to keep it that way.
Those who live in the area are concerned about increased traffic — especially on school days where there is already congestion — the size of the building and losing trees.
Vanessa Sherburne’s husband grew up across the street from the Brentwood School site, played in the grove of trees and the couple wants the area to remain as is so their son can enjoy the same experience.
Sherburne said the county’s decision was rushed and there was not enough community consultation.
“They (BGC) insist on Brentwood, despite the fact that building here would require destroying this forested area that is really treasured by the community. And so people were really upset when they learned of this — after the decision had been made is when most people found out.”
Sherburne’s feelings are echoed by the 611 people who signed a petition.
“This isn’t just a case of a few disgruntled residents who don’t want to see change in their neighbourhood. This is a substantial build,” she said.
“There are some conditions, but we don’t have a lot of faith that those conditions will be followed.”
The county said alternate sites were reviewed and considered less suitable, as the Boys and Girls Club’s needs included the land being roughly 1.5 to two acres in size, centrally located to support the existing population, close to schools, in proximity to passive and active recreation, on a transit route and within walking distance to amenities such as the library.
The Brentwood neighbourhood is just south of the Strathcona County Library, Salisbury Composite High and St. Theresa Catholic School.
Another resident, Perry Gould, launched a GoFundMe that’s raised more than $7,700 to hire a lawyer to fight the proposal.
Gould said he has lived in the neighbourhood for more than three decades and worries about the quality of life deteriorating.
“It really, truly comes down to a lot of safety issues,” he said, adding traffic is already very congested on school days and adding a facility that brings more families into the area will just make it worse.
“I bought here for a reason. I didn’t buy here to live beside a structure the size of a hotel that’s truly operational 364 days a year.”
Ottewell said the Boys and Girls Club is committed to being a good neighbour in Brentwood, has held one open house and aims to hold another one in the fall when it has more information to share.
“Our mandate is to be as good of a neighbour as possible to the residents in Brentwood — but our focus is on the children.
“Having an 800-child waitlist right now is something we can’t ignore. So we’re really excited about moving this project forward.”
Before that can happen, the Boys and Girls Club needs the federal government grant to be approved — something that might not happen until early 2024.
“We don’t have the final design in place right now. We’re taking things one step at a time. And the first big milestone for us to achieve is to secure the funding,” Ottewell said.
“We’re in a bit of a holding pattern right now.”
The county said if BGC is not successful with grants and fundraising, the land will revert back to Strathcona County.
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