A process to find a new operator for Coopers Green Hall is expected to start in the new year.
At a Dec 14 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) committee meeting, a recommendation passed for the board to approve staff developing a call for expression of interest for hall operation. Through this process, outside parties would have the chance to pitch ideas to operate the facility under a lease from the SCRD. The board next meets in January.
In committee debate on the matter, Gibsons area director Silas White noted that similar third-party leases of local government-owned facilities exist in other Coast jurisdictions, and in his experience, they “work well." Calling the recommendation timely, he said he saw it “as a solution to engage a society that is motivated to take on the building for community benefit."
Recommendations on uses and costs
Parameters for the expression of interest call set out in a staff report and supported by the committee, ask that any new hall use comply with existing site zoning. Those include public assembly, park, camp assembly, outdoor recreation, education, as well as community care or childcare facility.
When it came to costs related to the building’s future, the committee also followed staff’s lead. They recommended that any group looking to take on the hall be asked to accept the 123 square metre structure in “as is” condition.
Unknowns around the building’s physical state and the amount that may have to be invested to launch new operations led committee members to ask whether a condition assessment should be done before asking for use proposals. In response, general manager of community services, Shelley Gagnon, stated that staff did not have direction from the board to undertake that work. She also explained that knowing what the proposed use is would be key in determining the type and extent of the required building upgrades.
The SCRD last made capital improvements to the 1984 vintage hall 10 years ago. According to the staff report, a May 2017 non-structural assessment at the site revealed a need for roof, exterior siding, electrical panel and exterior door repairs, with costs for those estimated at $144,000 in current year funds. That document also stated an additional $100,000 in capital repairs are anticipated to be required within the next three years.
In Gagnon’s view, gauging possibilities about the hall’s future operations needs to be done before the SCRD finalizes how it will spend about $700,000 in improvements at the park. Changes to things like the availability of washrooms or vehicle parking requirements at the hall could impact how those funds, part of the $4.5 million community replacement budget, which will see a new hall built in Halfmoon Bay’s Connor Park, are spent.
Also on the financial side, having any new hall operator responsible for day-to-day maintenance and operations costs was included in the recommendation. To provide some detail on the scope of those, the staff report outlined that the SCRD has spent in the $35,000 to $45,000 range annually for hall utilities, caretaking, booking and preventative maintenance. In the 12 months that ended Oct 1, it noted that the hall had 113 bookings for about 345 hours of use, which generated about $3,500 in revenue.
