Public swim at the family leisure centre (file photo/CHATNewsToday)

By Tiffany Goodwein

City recreation trend looks towards more spontaneous activities

Oct 6, 2021 | 5:55 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — From hockey to group fitness to outdoor trails, opportunities are abundant in Medicine Hat, but the challenge for many is finding enough time.

It’s a trend the city has noticed as it has analyzed trends in recreation both locally and nationally.

“Really we are seeing a downward trend in people’s time, and their ability to commit time to an activity, so we are seeing more people looking for more spontaneous use,” said James Will, general manager of parks and recreation for the City of Medicine Hat

That need for more spontaneous activities is reflected in the jump in participation for drop-in activities.

A recent survey on Shape Your City that asked residents what their priorities were for recreation listed a swimming pool as their number one need, followed by fitness and wellness facilities.

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“We see a lot of people valuing the drop-in for our indoor and outdoor pools as well as for our recreation centers and people want something that they can do on their on schedule so they want to show up, and do whatever works for them so they don’t have to commit to a specific time”.

Another trend is for more unstructured outdoor play spaces, and there is already one located in the heart of Southeast Hill.

“Kiwanis Central Park is a great example where you’ve got a natural playground, you’ve got an ice rink in the wintertime, a fire pit, a spray park in the summertime so just a number of things you can do in that space where you can show up and it is semi programmed in the sense that there is a number of things for you to do there but you don’t have to say, ‘I got to be there every Wednesday at 7 p.m,'” stated Will.

The city is in the process of developing its Recreation Master Plan. A draft is expected to be released in the coming weeks, and further consultation will take place on the future of recreation facilities in the city.

Currently the Moose Rec Centre, Heights pool and Crestwood Recreation Centre remain closed. The city closed the facilities temporarily due to reduced demand during COVID-19 and to meet budget targets for the year. The city said no decisions have been made as of yet to permanently close any of the facilities. But the city will be reaching out to residents to determine if residents are interested in maintaining the smaller facilities or upgrading to a newly constructed multiplex.

“Our biggest goal is to make sure the community understands the decisions that we have in front of us, and what the implications are of each of those paths,” Will said.