South Winnipeg Recreation Campus UPDATE

We are making solid progress on the South Winnipeg Recreation Campus, and a lot of behind the scenes work has been occurring this past year. A formalized group of stakeholders have been meeting and developed a Project Charter. The Project Charter articulates:

• Requirements, process and deliverables
• Governance principles, project structure and responsibilities
• Budget, schedule, and key delivery related assumptions
• Stakeholder acknowledgement and agreement

Developing the Project Charter was a critical step in the process as it describes the combined requirements for the South Winnipeg Recreation Campus Planning and Feasibility Project.  The requirements have been developed collaboratively with the South Winnipeg Action Team, Pembina Trails School Division, the YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg and impacted departments within the City of Winnipeg.

The Project Charter provides an overview of the key areas that will be investigated during the Planning and Feasibility Project.

The Project Charter document also describes the minimum process expectations and key deliverables that will be expected at the completion of the project, and the project governance structure for the Planning and Feasibility Project.

Why all the effort into a Project Charter? The Charter establishes the foundation – it sets out direction, governance, participation, expectations, deliverables and more. It is a guiding document, but it is even more than that. The process of putting the Project Charter in place helped all parties understand this is a joint effort – not run solely or directed by one group or individual – but that it is a joint community initiative. This model and approach is new to the City of Winnipeg  in relation to the  development of a regional recreation complex. When something is new, it takes time to ensure it’s done right.

I anticipate this week that the Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued on the City’s website. The RFP will ask interested architects, designers and planners to form a team and submit a proposal on how they will collect information to deliver a high-level plan and budget for a new regional recreation campus in South Winnipeg. The steering committee will review applications and select a team to conduct the work.

Broad community consultations will be held in the new year, research and planning will occur, and I expect by late spring, 2017, we will have a conceptual design and budget. At that point, we will be able to reach out to levels of government and private donors for funding support.

Yes, this is an involved process, and if we see shovels in the ground in the next 4-5 years, we will be making positive progress.

A special thanks to the many volunteers and members of the South Winnipeg Action Team who are dedicating countless hours to the project.  Feel free to contact me for further information if  you are interested.

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