New year brings new hope for Dawson City, Yukon's new rec centre

Ground work for Dawson City, Yukon's new recreation facility could start as early as this summer if the town's council approves the final design, according to recreation manager Paul Robitaille.

The new $65-million facility is slated to be built just outside the downtown core, where the Dome Road meets the North Klondike Highway.

Once built it will replace the aging Art and Margaret Fry recreation centre in town, which has been plagued with structural issues for decades. 

The new facility's current design includes a skating rink and two curling sheets, as well as offices, a fitness centre, walking track, and an indoor play space.

Robitaille said the new year brings new hope and optimism that Dawson City will finally get its new recreation centre.

"It consumes a lot of my time and so I'm really hoping that it happens," Robitaille said. "There is some light at the end of the tunnel here and it looks like this could actually happen."

Town councillors decided in 2017 to build the facility rather than underake a $20-million repair job on the existing recreation centre. The hope then was to start building within a couple of years.

Since then, there have been debates about where to build it and what it would look like. There were also concerns that the project would be significantly over-budget.

Robitaille said in September the project's conceptual design was approved by town council, which secured funding from the territorial and federal governments.

He said since then, the design has been getting refined so that it can be ready for the final approval by council in May.

"We're getting into design of where electrical outlets are at the moment," Robitaille said. "So getting very detailed."

Robitaille said the operation and maintenance costs for the new facility have yet to be determined. He said the new facility will be a multi-functioning building that will have more operational needs and likely more cost.

"There will be more cost in terms of heating, maybe more staffing," he said. "We haven't really sorted that all out and that's what we're trying to figure out as we speak as we finalize some of the details."

CBC News asked some residents how they felt about the project and its current status and while many people said they're excited that the project is moving forward, some expressed concern about the location being too far from the downtown and therefore difficult to access without a vehicle.

Others argue that many people living in the Dawson area are outside of the downtown core and so the new recreation centre would be closer to them, and not force them to go into town.