The Board of Governors is asking SFU students for their feedback regarding a proposal for a new recreational facility at SFU Burnaby.
A private company has offered to build the 50,000 square foot facility free of charge, the value of which is estimated at between $20 and $25 million. In return, SFU would give the company a 65-year lease of land adjacent to Discovery Park, on which they would build BC’s first school of chiropractic.
The recreation building would be built west of Terry Fox Field and would include a pool, a gym, and a racquetball court, among other services. As stated by the consultation flyers, it would aim to “revitalise recreation programming, improve women’s and men’s change rooms, house team locker rooms, and support space for field sports activities.”
SFU does not have the capital required to construct such a facility, nor is it able to borrow to fund this project. Therefore, SFU would lease out 3.46 acres of land – valued at approximately $5.5 million – to be returned along with the chiropractic school building to the university upon the lease’s expiration.
“Our ministry won’t pay for recreation and athletic facilities,” explained Larry Waddell, SFU chief facilities officer. “[The proposal] began as a means of us saying ,‘If left to our own devices, what options do we have to come up with some capital?’ [. . . ] We came up with this idea of trying to leverage some value out of our land to see if that could translate into some capital.”
Last week, the university held three town hall style meetings on Burnaby campus, where students could ask questions and voice their opinions on the issue. Pat Hibbitts, VP finance and administration, said, “We’re truly seeking the feedback of the community on this.”
Initial concerns were raised regarding the ever-present issue of deferred maintenance, a problem which has repeatedly made the news over the last year. Student Connor Smith asked, “When SFU was built, it was built without a budget put aside to do that maintenance. So, in building this, if it is getting built for free, is there also going to be a fund set up to maintain it?”
Hibbitts replied, “We need to go into it with our eyes wide open that a certain amount of maintenance will be required on that building. We will be responsible for that [fund].”
Further worries were raised by student Jeffrey Truman, who questioned the appeal of having a chiropractic school on the mountain. He said, “I think that having something like a school of chiropractic, which is not really well-backed by science, would be an embarrassment to have near SFU or associated with SFU in any way.”
The university assured those in attendance that there would be no formal association between the school of chiropractic and SFU.
Student Alexander Betsos inquired about the potential environmental impact of constructing a chiropractic school. Waddell replied, “We did a very detailed environmental study looking at the creeks, looking at the trees, looking at the animal life down there, and ended up identifying those areas where you could build that would have the least impact on those types of things.”
He continued, “Any work that takes place there will have to comply with all the environmental guidelines.”
Not all comments were negative or inquisitive, however; two SFU varsity athletes were present to voice their support for the proposal.
Austin Trapp, a member of the track and field team, said, “I think it will help our varsity athletics program because a lot of times when athletes are looking at universities to attend, they’re looking at the facilities they will ultimately train in.”
At the conclusion of the meeting, Betsos was yet to be convinced of the proposal’s worth. “I’m still opposed towards this trade, although not nearly as opposed as I was when I walked into this room. I’m not a huge fan of public-private partnerships as a general rule, and I think that there are a lot of things at SFU that need fixing that if we were to sell off a portion of land, that would be where I’d want the money to go,” he said.
Student feedback will be presented on March 27 to the Board of Governors, who will then decide whether or not to pursue the project.
