By Alex McCuaig

Kiwanis Centre

City considers sale of Kiwanis Centre

Mar 11, 2020 | 5:46 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The city is considering selling a South Flats building housing a number of community groups, CHAT News has learned.

Donovan Hoggan, president of the Gas City Kiwanis Society which runs the Kiwanis Centre, confirmed the city is exploring options for the sale of the building and will be providing more information to stakeholders regarding the move.

He stressed the city’s assistance over the decades in establishing the centre and is, “thankful for years and years of support.”

The Kiwanis Centre has housed a number of community groups since 1985, including the Medicine Hat Boxing Club, Judo Club and Praxis Society among others.

However, a final decision as to the whether the city will in fact sell the building has yet to be made.

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Leah Prestayko, general manger of community development for the city, stressed no final decisions have been made regarding the future of the building, highlighting that a new lease is under negotiation that will allow the community groups utilizing the Kiwanis Centre to continue to do so.

But Prestayko added the former Elizabeth Street School isn’t being used for core municipal services.

“As part of city council’s strategic direction around fiscal responsibility, across the board we are looking at all of our properties and buildings to understand what is required for city use,” she said. “So we are down the path of exploring whether or not we want to be able to sell this property.”

That exploration will include an environmental assessment of the facility as well as real property report – a detailed survey of the land and buildings – prior to a decision on a sale being made.

“But once all of that work is done and we understand what we have in the building and what we might have for sale, the work would go to Invest Medicine Hat to develop a marketing strategy before the property could be brought for sale,” said Prestayko.

The building costs the city approximately $15,000 per year to operate with Prestayko adding there are some upcoming capital costs to maintain the building in the range of $150,000 to $200,000.