Iqaluit council OKs recreation facilities overhaul

Iqaluit city council has set a goal of building a new swimming pool by 2013, and constructing an indoor soccer complex, fitness centre and other recreation facilities after that.

Councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve Phase 1 of the city's Building Our Capital plan, meaning everyone agreed on the goals of Iqaluit's long-awaited overhaul of its recreation facilities.

Building a new swimming pool to replace the aging pool inside the Astro Hill complex is the first priority under the city's plan, given that the existing pool's lease is set to expire in March 2013.

The pool, along with an indoor soccer field, fitness centre, climbing wall and other facilities, will be built where Iqaluit City Hall and the Arnaitok Arena are currently located, according to the plan.

Brand-new recreational complex

All but the pool may be built after 2013, but Iqaluit residents could eventually see a brand-new 11,000-square-metre recreation complex replacing the aging arena.

"Approving Phase 1 of the Building Our Capital project will allow the project team to confidently move forward with the project in to Phase 2," recreation director Amy Elgersma told council at Tuesday night's meeting.

Under the capital plan, the city also wants to build a new City Hall and a new fire station.

Now, city officials, councillors and consultants must start looking at how they can fund what would be a multi-million-dollar infrastructure project.

Council gave Elgersma permission to look into the idea of forming public-private partnerships, in which a company would build the facilities and lease them back to the city.

Other options include raising municipal taxes and asking the federal government for funding.

City officials say they plan to hold a referendum this fall to see if they can get ratepayers' permission to borrow money for the new facilities.