Dear editor:
Calgary is building a luxurious $119-million recreation facility on our doorstep in Rocky Ridge.
This facility will include basically everything you could ask for, including a wave pool and water slides. The location of the confirmed project is on the very edge of northwest Calgary city limits by Bearspaw. While Cochrane is building a wave pool that is way too expensive for our budget in the first place, Calgary is building basically the same pool (and much more) literally 15 minutes outside of town limits. Both of the facilities are expected to open in 2017. A quick Google Maps search shows the two facilities will be 23 km apart.
So far, the public debate about Cochrane’s project has boiled down to whether or not we want to pay $45 million to give our children access to a wave pool. The second question has become whether or not that money should be going to new road projects instead of recreation. We have to ask ourselves if we can justify spending $45 million on a local wave pool so families can avoid driving 15 extra minutes to the superior Rocky Ridge centre.
I believe Cochrane should build a pool. Building a new pool for basic swimming lessons and recreation makes sense. Given that Calgary has confirmed they are building a wave pool minutes down the highway, the massive curling complex and aquatic centre project makes zero sense.
I am fully aware that some people see my RockTheRoads.ca petition as being a little radical. The way I see it, spending more money than any project in the history of Cochrane on something that Calgary is already building beside us… now that is radical. The size and price of the aquatic/curling project is absolutely indefensible. Meanwhile, infrastructure is being neglected and traffic is blamed on the provincial government. Our municipal government is rubber-stamping a catastrophic mistake.
Morgan Nagel, Cochrane councillor
