Essex Council Moves Forward with a Grant Application.
Keep your fingers crossed that we are successful in this grant application and this project finally takes off! According to the 2015 Parks, Recreation and Culture Master plan, Ward 1 had been running short on recreational amenities. Council made a commitment to purchasing land several years ago but has yet to put a shovel in the ground as a large grant we applied for fell through.
Some deficiencies according to the report are as follows,
“Essex Centre previously had 9 baseball diamonds and currently there are only four
diamonds. The reduction in baseball diamonds occurred when two new elementary schools
were built in Essex Centre and the new schools were built where the current sport fields were
located.Essex Centre is also lacking in soccer fields of all sizes for all ages as there are currently only
four soccer fields (2 full size and 2 mini fields) which does not meet the demand of current
3 leagues (youth league, 18+ league, and 30+ league) and requests for new leagues in the Essex
Centre area.In addition, with the expansion of Highway 3, Hanlan Street will become a local commuter road
within Essex Centre and the extension of Hanlan Street to County Road 23 (Arner Townline)
will go directly through the current soccer fields and this work is expected to occur within the
next 2 years.”
Why Now? Thought Budget was set?
Further in the Report:
“In July of 2021, Administration applied to the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF)
to potentially receive up to $750,000 towards developing Phase 1 of the project. In January
2022, Administration was notified that the Town’s application was being reviewed but
confirmation was required that the remaining funds for Phase 1 were confirmed.
Unfortunately, no additional funds were allocated in the 2022 capital budget for the project or
at this time no Naming Rights or Sponsorship funding has been confirmed.
Based on further conversations with the Town’s CCRF contact it was suggested that funding would only be
approved if the remaining funds for the project could be confirmed. Based on these discussions, Administration worked with Bezaire Partners to develop a Phase 1A plan that would only include amenities that are required in the near future. Bezaire Partners developed a revised plan (see Appendix A) and budget, and this information was forwarded on to CCRF for further review.
If the Town of Essex is successful in receiving funding, work for Phase 1A would need to be
completed by March 31, 2023. Although work could be completed by no later than March 31,
2023, the fields would not be able to be used until the fall of 2023 or spring of 2024 as the
soccer fields would need 1 full year to have the grass germinate and be ready for regular play.”
Link to Full Report
https://townofessex-pub.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=6849
The highlighted parts in green are the proposed first phase.
