The town’s decision to waive the fees for using the walking track at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre is certainly a laudable move.
However, the town could go a lot farther if the walking track and public skate changes were the first in a series of fee adjustments. We understand the new facility needs to charge some admission in hopes of offsetting the costs of running it.
The ice plant, the heating and cooling systems, and all the lights certainly aren’t cheap to keep running day in and day out.
However, one might wonder whether the fees charged are causing some people who would normally use the facilities to avoid doing so.
As an example, a 65-year-old who goes to the weight room three times a week for a year to keep up their strength will end up spending about $780.
And that same amount is what it would cost a high school student to drop in three times a week for any activity.
That amount may not be too onerous for someone who is working, but for seniors on a fixed income, or students who are quite possibly getting their money from their parents, it’s a lot to shell out even if they are getting a tangible benefit from it.
It may even be enough to dissuade those people from using the facility, which would defeat the purpose of building it in the first place.
A gem of a facility like the Spirit Centre exists to be used. It exists to get people inside it all year so those people can improve their lives through exercise.
Fees for seniors and students, or at least $5-a-pop fees, simply don’t compute.
Those fees should join the walking track fee in the dustbin of history. If we want our young people to get and stay active, and our older generation to stay healthy well into their golden years, then there should not be any fees for those groups.
If fees must be charged to those groups, they should be reduced. How does $2 sound? That would render the $3.50 fee for kids aged three to 12 out of place, so it should be dropped completely.
If the town wants people to use the Spirit Centre, they should remove all obstacles.
