Selection process and jurisdictional issues complicate $400 million community centre investment

Last week, the ABC majority on city council passed a motion which, in part, directed staff to include $400 million to renew and replace five community centres in the upcoming 2026-2030 capital plan.

“It's incredibly ambitious,” Mayor Ken Sim’s chief of staff Trevor Ford told Vancity Lookout during an extensive sit-down interview at City Hall last week. “Typically, it's about one community center per capital plan, and we haven't even been doing that.”

The chosen community centres are Roundhouse, Kensington, Dunbar, Hastings, and Kerrisdale. However, these choices diverge somewhat from the park board’s 2022 Community Center Plan, which laid out its own priority list for community centre renewal. 

“This is the first phase,” Ford said. “We picked five based on the list that staff has provided us. We're going to hit the worst ones that are the easiest to hit, right off the bat.”

The list Ford is referring to is not the park board’s plan, but rather a recent community centre condition and usage assessment, which he shared with Vancity Lookout. That was the document used to inform the choice of the community centres that should be prioritized for renewal or replacement in ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung’s motion. 

“In four years, things have dramatically changed,” Ford said of the recent assessment compared to the 2022 plan. 

The two-page spreadsheet lays out the Facility Condition Index (FCI) score for each community centre. The higher the FCI percentage, the greater the maintenance and major repair costs compared to fully replacing the building. Four of the five community centres chosen for renewal were categorized as being in “very poor” condition, with FCI’s between 30 and 60 per cent, according to the city assessment. 

The city’s assessment also includes facility age, size, deferred renewal liabilities, usage, and other notes. While it incorporates park board data on current usage at community centres, it does not account for unmet need or future demand, nor does it reflect alignment with growth areas, park board Comm. Brennan Bastyovanszky said, highlighting differences between the city’s assessment and the park board’s plan.

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