Brandon residents fighting to save community centre

Brandon's Park Community Centre has been around for decades, but the aging facility is need of repairs, leaving its fate uncertain. A grassroots initiative is fighting to make sure residents have a space like it in the future.

Matt Cory has been part of the Brandon music scene for almost 15 years. He’s played at many venues in the city, including the Park Community Center which he said always had an enthusiastic crowd.

“It was all ages as well so, it was really sweet to see young kids being inspired by what we were doing on stage," he said.

The community center was built in 1961. Now needing major repairs, it was slated to be torn down in 2019 as part of the city of Brandon's community facilities master plan.

However, the centre’s fate has flip-flopped several times since.

“It’s a hub, it's a place for this area and even people out of this area to come and for an economical fee of $20 an hour sit down and be able to use a centre," said Ken Friedrich, president of the Park Community Centre board.

City officials were directed to prepare tenders for rebuilding the centre in 2021, something the centre’s board says hasn’t happened yet.

The board believes the centre should be rebuilt immediately – a view it will be sharing at a ward meeting inside the centre Tuesday night.

“I thought, well if we are going to have a ward meeting to talk about the Park then we should make sure there’s enough people here to talk about it and have our feelings heard on it," said Eldon Schmitz, a board member at the community centre.

With the centre’s future still uncertain, Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett says nothing is off the table.

"That’s why we’re still discussing this," he said. "Admittedly, COVID got in the way of an awful lot of things so it does seem like it’s taking even longer than it would usually."

The centre is currently working at a reduced capacity of 40 people due to the repairs needed meaning it can't be used for large indoor gatherings like in its past.

“When I was a teenager before I could play in the bars, it was places like this that I relied on to be able to play," Cory said. "When you’re a teenager how do you fuel that passion?”

A call to ensure a suitable replacement is planned before the Park’s final curtain.

Fawcett says the community center will be discussed by Brandon city council at an upcoming meeting.