Province Gives Grant to Stadium

SPORT/RECREATION COMMISSION Province Gives Grant to Stadium

The province is helping Nova Scotians improve their health and fitness by providing a capital construction grant to the Sackville Sports Stadium.

Jane Purves, Minister responsible for the Sport and Recreation Commission, announced a $150,000 grant to the Lake District Recreation Association at a news conference today.

The Recreation Facility Development Program grant -- $50,000 a year for the next three years -- is part of an addition worth close to $5.5 million at the sports stadium.

"This grant is going towards new facilities that will allow people to experience a healthier lifestyle, and that means a healthier population," said the minister. "We're pleased to give a helping hand to what is truly a community success story."

Once completed, the stadium will add a 10,000-square foot fitness centre, a 225-seat restaurant and conference facilities, and six sheets of curling ice.

The project is eight weeks ahead of schedule and on-budget. The official opening is in mid-September, but most of the addition will be completed and operational on Friday, June 30.

The association received the bulk of its funding from a Halifax Regional Municipality loan, and it raised nearly $2 million from the private sector, community groups and individuals.

"The support of the provincial government helped us complete the project. It gave us core funding and it signaled to other donors that the province is committed to health and fitness," said Betty Lou Killen, executive director of the Sackville Sports Stadium.

About 16,000 people visit the stadium each week, from Sackville and the surrounding communities.

The Recreation Facility Development Program provides funds to help municipalities and community groups build or renovate facilities for public recreation.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Backgrounder to Recreation Facility Development Program follows:

• The Recreation Facility Development Program provides funds to help municipalities and community groups build or renovate facilities for public recreation.

• The program has been operating under the Nova Scotia Sport and Recreation Commission and its predecessor since the early 1970s.

• On average, the program funds about 80 projects a year, usually providing about $10,000 to $15,000 to each project.

• Capital grants under the program are up to one-third of the capital cost of the project.

• This year funding under the program is $2.8 million.

• It is estimated that the program generates a dollar multiplier of about one to 10. Or, in other words, for every $1 spent under the program, $10 in capital construction takes place.

• Many recreation projects in rural and urban Nova Scotia have benefitted from the Recreation Facility Development Program.