The City of Moose Jaw Parks and Recreation department has released the final draft of its Master Plan after 10 months of public engagement and consultation and is now seeking a final community review before Monday, Jan. 23.
“It’s been a five-phase process,” explained Derek Blais, director of the City of Moose Jaw Parks and Recreation Department. “We’re in Phase Four right now, which is the final review of all the recommendations and all the information that we’ve received.
“We’ve posted the final draft on the project website, which is available through the City of Moose Jaw website. We’ve given a deadline of Monday, Jan. 23 to collect that.”
Once the public have had a last chance to weigh in on the plan, city councillors will conduct a review before final adoption.
Blais said the plan should be adopted, implemented, and guiding his department’s priorities by the end of February.
“The real important part of this is that it’s community driven,” Blais said. “It’s not something that myself or any of my colleagues have made up and actioned. These are all recommendations that the community has provided us.”
Highlights of the 175-page document include creating a strategy for diversity, inclusion, and equality; offering more drop-in and spontaneous recreation activities; various facility renewals; the replacement of the Phyllis Dewar Outdoor Pool; and upgrades to Crescent Park, among many others.
The plan is available for public review and feedback through the City of Moose Jaw website at moosejaw.ca/NotoriouslyEngaged/, which directs viewers to parksmasterplan.com/moosejaw.
ParksMasterPlan.com is owned by EDS Group Inc., a professional parks and recreation planning firm working with City Hall.
“We haven’t had a plan since 1976,” Blais said. “To have that clear roadmap to help guide us and help us continually improve upon the programs and services we offer is exciting.
“We have development and infrastructure recommendations, we have service delivery recommendations, and we have programming recommendations. Another key point of the plan is the background review and sharing the current state of our facilities … knowing where we’re at when it comes to our usage … and future renewal projects.”
Blais said it was important that stakeholders and community members take a good look now to ensure the final draft reflects the community’s needs. If there’s anything that might have been missed, it needs to be addressed before city council votes on implementation.
