The Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre has a vision for the local recreational facility, and that includes the Agriplex.
Now that the lease is up for the Bonnyville Stampede Bingo, who currently use the space multiple times a week, the C2 board is reconsidering their options moving forward.
“We’re not talking about eliminating bingo, they just need to find a new home so the Agriplex can be used for what it was originally intended for,” explained Mayor Gene Sobolewski, during the town’s latest council meeting on Tuesday, June 12.
During strategic planning discussions, the C2 board pondered the possibilities, and see an opportunity to host events, sports, and meetings there.
The board’s concern is activities that were once held in the town’s old Agriplex have shifted over to the field house in order to accommodate Bingo.
“There’s a lot of demand in the field house, whether it’s pickleball, drop-in sports, indoor soccer, or lacrosse, there are a number of users and every time there is an event that could use a hall... there’s ample opportunity and space to not only use the Agriplex, but we could also redo the flooring and put pickleball, volleyball, we could do a lot of things with it,” detailed Sobolewski.
Their goal is to get more use out of the Agriplex.
“Right now, bingo utilizes and has essentially sterilized the use of the Agriplex,” Sobolewski continued. “That’s all it’s there for.”
Although they’re reconsidering reinstating their lease with Stampede Bingo, Sobolewski stressed that it doesn’t mean it isn’t welcome in the community.
“We’re not cancelling bingo. We want to repurpose that hall and use it for something else.”
Coun. Brian McEvoy said he was surprised the space was ever designated a bingo hall in the first place.
He said, “I thought it was a mistake when they allowed bingo in there, because exactly what has already happened. We built a field house for the use as a field house. We’re impacting that greatly. We have organizations who have stopped utilizing the facility completely because they get interrupted... It’s a beautiful facility with a lot of potential that is being impacted wrongly.”
Coun. Ray Prevost agreed, adding “If you’re going to make this move, now is the time to think about it.”
The C2 board is reviewing their strategic priorities for the entire facility, and haven’t completely decided what they will do with the space, although renovations are likely needed.
They’re hope is that by opening up the facility, they will eliminate some of their space utilization issues.
Although he doubts the C2 will see enough revenue from the Agriplex to break even, “the goal is greater utilization, not necessarily the revenues,” Sobolewski expressed.
He continued, “The focus is recreation and utilization.”
