Community centre programming on ice
Local clubs shuttered indefinitely
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This article was published 20/11/2020 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Community centre programming is once again on hold as Manitobans wait out a code red health order.
In March, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Manitoba, community centres across Winnipeg were shuttered. Programs were suspended, plans for spring and summer sports put on hold or cancelled outright. As the province eased restrictions in June, clubs across the northeast began to cautiously re-open, or plan for fall.
But as of Nov. 12, clubs are closed once again until at least mid-December. At the same time, the City of Winnipeg announced it would close all of its outdoor recreational amenities, which include outdoor hockey rinks and toboggan slides located at local community centres.
“As with everything COVID, it is fly by the seat of your pants,” said Cher Hebert, general manager of Valley Gardens Community Centre (118 Antrim Rd.). “Everything is just so unpredictable. It could be a very, very quiet winter.”
For years, Valley Gardens has rented two of its three outdoor rinks to the Kildonan Sponge Hockey League, as well as supplying River East Minor Hockey Association with ice for practices. Typically by mid-November, ice making for those rinks would be well underway. Not this year.
“We don’t know when we will be able to start making ice,” Hebert said.
Nearby North Kildonan Community Centre, located at 1144 Kingsford Pl., is well-known for its outdoor rinks. President Mitch Rosset said that if restrictions are lifted in December, there is still a chance to salvage the winter season. Otherwise, the board will have to consider its options.
“We’ve done everything we can until this point,” Rosset said. “Until then we’ll have to just roll with the punches.”
With two indoor arenas and an indoor soccer pitch as well as outdoor amenities, Gateway Recreation Center (1717 Gateway Rd.) is one of the larger community centres in northeast Winnipeg.
During the spring shutdown, Gateway pulled the ice from one of its indoor rinks immediately and began doing upkeep work they’d planned for the summer, while reducing the costs. Now, though, club management is stuck playing the waiting game.
“We’re not taking the rinks out at this point, but we may have to,” Gateway president Tammy Harper said. “There are other things we can do to reduce costs if we have to. We’re still hopeful that within a month we’ll be able to get back.”
In the summer, Gateway was able to open its facilities back up, as did Valley Gardens. NKCC chose to call it a season, and prepare instead for what they hoped would be a relatively normal fall and winter.
Hall and gym rentals have also taken a major hit this year, which is only exacerbated as clubs are closed again indefinitely.
“Now that the facilities are closed again, our revenues are zero,” Harper added.
“We’re just going into our busy season now, with rinks and birthday parties and social bookings,” Rosset said.
The loss of programming and bookings has resulted in a major hit to club revenues for 2020.
“We were lucky enough to pick up a couple of new renters during the summer which helped with dwindled revenues,” Hebert said, noting that while Valley Gardens is currently closed for programming, N.A.S.P. Daycare, which uses the club during the day, remains open.
Similarly, a YMCA daycare remains operational at NKCC, but the rest of its popular winter programming, including basketball and taekwondo, remain on hold.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’ll happily shut everything down so we can all get through the pandemic safely,” Rosset said. “But we’re missing out on that source of revenue, or the ability to offer programming or even just a source of recreation. That’s a concern, for us.”
While many clubs have had to lay off staff over the course of the pandemic, programs like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy has allowed some full-time employees and managers to keep working.
“We’ve laid off all our casual staff again,” Harper said, noting that Gateway is receiving CEWS funding. “Our full-time staff is still working, doing maintenance and painting.”
Gateway also applied for the $40,000 no-interest loan from the government in the spring, though to date they haven’t had to use the funds.
“Hopefully we won’t have to, but we have it available,” Harper said. “We have worked incredibly hard and spent a ridiculous amount of money on protocols for COVID, to make sure we we’re following them. We did get a lot of pushback from people, but we continued.”
Across the board, those who work and volunteer in community centres throughout the northeast are eager for a return to some form of normalcy.
“We can’t wait to see everyone,” Harper said. “Be safe, so we can all get back onto the ice again soon.
Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist
Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112
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GCWCC offers support
Community centres across Winnipeg are closed, programs suspended following code red provincial health orders that came into effect on Nov. 2.
While it is too soon to tell just what the impact that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will ultimately have local community centres, the outlook is cause for concer.
“It’s going to impact some of these centres, because they reley heavily on programs and rentals,” said Lora Meseman, president of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres, an organization that acts as a central resource for the city’s 63 community centres.
“It’s very stressful, and it has put a lot of pressure on the volunteers,” Meseman admitted. “They’re managing the best they can, and we’re lucky that some of the centres have (full-time) managers, which has made it easier.”
Staff at many clubs have also been laid off.
“That’s stressful,” Meseman said. “Those people need to find work, and they might not get those same people back.”
In the spring, when clubs began to re-open after the initial shutdown, the GCWCC offered clubs a $1,000 grant to purchase PPE and other sanitation equipment needed to keep staff, volunteers, and visitors safe.
“Once we know restrictions are lifted, we’ll offer that again,” Meseman said. “We’ve been in conversation to see what else we can do.”
The GCWCC recently held its annual general meeting virtually, and is helping other clubs do the same.
“We plan to hold a virtual town hall in the weeks to come, because we don’t know what’s coming down the pipe,” Meseman said. “It’s a tough time, and we’ll be there to support them.”
— Birnie
Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist
Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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