Swimmers, divers will likely pay more after St. John's budget cuts $100K from Aquarena
New Paul Reynolds Community Centre can't accommodate larger dives, says St. John's Legends board
A local swim team is expecting higher fees to offset the loss of a $100,000 grant to the Aquarena in the City of St. John's 2016 budget.
"We have to expect that this will impact our registration fees for next year for our swimmers," said Scott Wilson, president of the board for the St. John's Legends Swim Team, which is based at the Aquarena.
Coun. Jonathan Galgay, chair of the city's finance committee, said the Aquarena grant was one of the biggest debates at council.
"The grant for the Aquarena was based on the fact that the City of St. John's couldn't provide those services to our residents, but we've got a new $45 million centre coming online very, very soon — the Paul Reynolds Centre," Galgay told CBC's St. John's Morning Show Tuesday.
We knew there was a bit of writing on the wall, but we still didn't really have a heads up for this announcement.- Scott Wilson
"Once that is open we will be able to provide those services, so why would we give the $100,000 to the Aquarena on the basis that they would cover for us when we were not able to provide it?"
Wilson said his group wasn't warned about the announcement in the Monday budget, but he's not totally surprised.
"We didn't see it coming, although we did know that year that they had to lobby hard — the people who manage the Aquarena — to maintain the grant," said Wilson.
"So we knew there was a bit of writing on the wall, but we still didn't really have a heads up for this announcement."
'Not the complete answer'
Wilson said the Aquarena is a business with a financial bottom line and while the group has a good relationship with the management team, the business has to generate revenue.
"We also understand that the city is doing what it has to do to be fiscally responsible. These are tough decisions, but clearly it will impact us long term."
While Wilson said the new Paul Reynolds Centre in Wedgewood Park, scheduled to open in late 2016, will be a "world-class facility," he said it won't be able to accommodate swim groups like the St. John's Legends.
"It won't be a 50-metre facility, it won't have a facility that can accommodate diving wells, it won't be a facility that can attract large sports events, so it is a disappointment that the city was forced to reduce this revenue to the Aquarena," he said.
Wilson said the new centre will help, but "it is not the complete answer."