According to officials, the Town of Aurora has a long-standing goal of creating a new recreation center for its community, which is outlined in ten years of capital planning. However, this objective will not be achievable in the near term.
In a report posted by Yahoo News on the Local Journalism Initiative, Robin McDougall’s, director of community services in Aurora, said that the financial burden created by the development charges and payments made by developers for growth-related needs, is a significant constraint to investing substantial amounts into facilities.
McDougall says that the new recreation centre is not feasible in terms of finances. In a detailed report, she provided more insight on this issue.
The budget for 2023 allocated $42 millions to the design and construction the new recreation center. The Local Journalism Initiative reported further highlighted that McDougall revealed an analysis of the costs of other projects in York Region. McDougall found the town required around 2.8 ha (7 acre) of land valued at $2.7 millions per acre and totaling $18.9million. In addition, considering a recreation centre similar in scope to the one in East Gwillimbury, which was bid at $67 million for construction, the total cost would be $85.9 million–encompassing both land and construction expenses.
She said that, even after subtracting the cost of the new recreation center, the expense would be unaffordable over a considerable period and definitely not in the next decade. It is unlikely that the town will be able to afford the project in the next 20 years without significant funding, either from higher government levels or through tax increases.
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