ST. PAUL – The Town of St. Paul is working on a grant application that could pay for the design of multi-season outdoor recreation facility that has been in discussion for a few year - proposed to be built where the former OTJ was once located.
The OTJ was an outdoor skating rink area, located on land that now makes up part of the Racette Jr. High School yard.
On Sept. 23, Town of St. Paul CAO Steven Jeffery reported to council that he is working with Colliers Project Leaders and has submitted a Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant application for the design of the project.
Jeffery said the Town applied specifically for the CFEP Small stream of the grant program.
The grant is a 50-50 matching grant, providing assistance up to $125,000 to upgrade, expand, purchase, or build public-use community facilities, according to the Government of Alberta.
Jeffery explained that while they applied for CFEP Small, “It is to prepare ourselves and prepare the project ultimately for the larger stream of funding, which is the large portion of CFEP in the future.”
This larger stream is the CFEP Large funding, which could grant up to $1 million in funding.
“So, this [grant] is to get [the] design done on the project, to get it to a point where it could be submitted for larger funding,” said Jeffery.
Coun. Ron Boisvert asked what the facility would include.
Jeffery replied that the facility would be multi-use in that it could be used in all seasons. The facility could accommodate ice skating sports in the winter, but other sports in the spring, summer and fall.
At the moment, the facility is being proposed as open-air, but indoor spaces are also being considered, including covered spaces like bathrooms or warming huts.
To build the facility, the Town and St. Paul Education agreed to a land lease agreement in 2022 on the condition that the facility would be accessible to schools for programming during daytime hours, according to Jeffery.