Shuttering of North Vancouver community centre leaves lacrosse team in limbo - Action News
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British Columbia

Shuttering of North Vancouver community centre leaves lacrosse team in limbo

At the end of the year, the Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre is being torn down after 55 years of serving City of North Vancouver residents. Users are worried about a gap in service, with a replacement not slated to be completed until 2025.

55-year-old Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre being torn down, replacement not due completed until 2025

The North Shore Indians, a Senior B team in the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association, prepare for a game in July at the Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre. The club's president says the team will be without an arena for years while the City of North Vancouver builds a new facility without keeping the old one operating. (Facebook/North Shore Indians)

Squamish Nation Coun. Wilson Williams' family has coached or played lacrosse at the Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre on for four generations and now he worriesdecades of tradition will end with him.

The 55-year-old community centre located on 23rd StreetEastin North Vancouver, B.C., is scheduled to close in December and, according to the city, construction of a replacement centre will begin across the street in 2022 with its completion not slated until 2025.

Williams, and other Harry Jerome users, say tearing down the original centre before the new one opens is a tough pill to swallow.

"It's becoming very dire," said Williams, speaking Friday on CBC's The Early Edition."If we have a four- to five-year gap of playing on the North Shore, lacrosse could die in the community."

Williamsis president of the North Shore Indians Lacrosse Club,which plays in the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association. He said the club community includes child development programs and he worries without a space to provide consistent programming, it will be harder to encourage younger kids to come play.

"It's a whole community, a lacrosse community, which is what we look at from a First Nations lens ... and [we are] really trying to build that family to embrace lacrosse, which is the Creator's game," said Williams.

A rendering of the new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre, which is planned to be built across the street from the existing facility on 23rd Street East. (City of North Vancouver)

In a statement, the City of North Vancouver said the land on which the existing centre sits has to be leased out to help finance the new one. Mayor Linda Buchanan says plans are in the works to help mitigate service gaps.

"I understand that people have concerns about what this will mean for them. That's why the city and the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission are working on an interim service plan that will ensure the rec needs of people are met as we deliver this new facility," said the mayor in a statement.

But Williams said the city has not been very engagedwith centre users about its plans so far.

"There has been a lack of consultation," he said, noting he heard the same sentiment from two hockey organizations, as well as gymnastics and swim club organizers.

An exterior shot of the Harry Jerome Recreation Community Centre, which was built in 1966. (City of North Vancouver)

Individual residents are also upset.

Vivian Chenghas launched a petition to try to get the city to keep the old facility open until the new one is ready.

She says the closure will make it harder forchildren from low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities to access activities if they have to travel to do so. Herpetitionalso points out that people who work at the current centre could lose their jobs.

As of Friday morning, the petition had 2,800 signatures.

"I was very surprised that they were doing it after COVID, after we have learned that human connection is so important and our health is so important and this centre brings peopletogether," said Cheng.

With files from The Early Edition