Request for Basketball Courts at Imperial Park

Cold Lake City Council’s Recreation & Cultural Advisory Committee (RCAB) has put forth a recommendation to Council for basketball courts to be installed at Imperial Park, near the Energy Centre. Mayor of Cold Lake Craig Copeland says a decision on the courts will be made next budget cycle.

“Basketball courts out at the Energy Centre are a good idea, we just need to figure out where to properly place them.” And of course there’s always a cost-factor says the mayor, “right now, we’ve got to wait for next year’s funding.” According to Council package from the May 24th meeting, the request stemmed from a “delegation the RCAB heard from the Cold Lake High School students are expressing a desire to have the school to install an outdoor basketball court.”  Students at Cold Lake High School have raised $5,000 towards the initiative.

City Administration feels that if Northern Lights School Board (NLSD) wishes to fund and build the project that issues over land should not be a barrier. ” If there is funding for a project, administration would surely work with the NLSD for a suitable location.” The problem being, $5,000 is not nearly enough to have the courts built. Cost-estimate on the project is $165,000 for a concrete pad court.

‘But I want them now!’ may be playing through a lot of residents’ heads, Mayor Copeland explains there’s a reason for the wait, “Council really only has $200,000, sitting in a what’s called continuously, to actually play with, that’s not allocated. Otherwise our entire budget is already allocated.” Funding decisions can weigh heavy on Council’s mind. All too often Council would love to approve and push through projects that they see as important to the community. Mayor Copeland has long been a supporter of recreation in the community; however he realizes the restraints of the budget. “We’ve got the transit, and we would love to get people over to the Energy Centre,” with Phase II of the facility in the works and transit in place to make the amenities readily accessible, the City is eager to add to the area. “A logical place would be the Energy Centre, we just have to find the right land, (and money).”

For now basketball lovers can play on one of the two other courts in the community, at Hill Top park in Cold Lake South and Kinosoo Beach in Cold Lake North. The courts at Kinisoo Beach are being redone as part of the Kinisoo Beach Expansion Project and there will be courts build at Holy Cross Elementary by Lakeland Catholic School District.