There will be some modifications to the fee schedule for using the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre, with the walking track free to use for the foreseeable future.
Council approved changes to the user fees for the new facility at its Nov. 13 meeting in response to concerns councillors had heard from residents and facility staff alike.
“I think all of us have heard some issues with regard to the walking track, first with seniors being charged and second how it all works with who’s being charged,” Mayor Bruce Lennon said.
At issue is the $2 fee to use the walking track, which sits on the second level above the arena. Seniors have expressed concern about having a fee at all, while Spirit Centre staff have raised concerns about enforcing the fee.
With the arena often filled with spectators, and access to the walking track directly from the seating area, the difficulty, then, is determining who is there to use the walking track and who is there to watch a game — not to mention trying to tell the hockey audience they can’t use the track.
“We’ve heard from people who work there and it’s becoming an administrative nightmare; it’s causing problems,” Lennon said.
The walking track will be free to use effective immediately, and the town will look for someone to sponsor the track instead.
Council also approved a separate fee schedule for public skating. A local business has committed to sponsoring a weekly public skate, which would be free of charge, but other public skating times will require users to pay.
Admission for public skating, however, will be less than the admission for Spirit Centre’s standard day pass.
“Rather than charge a full day pass, we will set up a fee schedule of $10 for family, $4 for adults and $2 for children when it’s not sponsored,” Lennon said. “The makes it a little more doable to get people out.”
Lighting in the Spirit Centre parking lot and at the north entrance to the site has now been completed and put in place, CAO Darrel Garceau said.
He explained the work was to be done by the end of the week after Coun. Clem Fagnan expressed concern about how difficult it is for out-of-town visitors to find the arena.
“People who have never been here trying to find the arena have a really hard time,” he said.
The situation is likely to improve now that lighting at the north entrance to the parking lot is in place.
Council also directed administration to add signage to the direction boards located along the highways, which already direct visitors to downtown and various other local amenities, pointing the way to the arena and fieldhouse.
