When reviewing the infrastructure maintenance plans and requirements for the existing Normandeau Activity Centre in 2006, administration noted that the city had only one small community centre to serve seven northwest quadrant neighbourhoods.

The community discussions and exploration regarding the Normandeau Activity Centre and adjoining neighbourhood park site outlined several things to do to enhance this site however, by 2009, the idea of a new Northside Community Centre emerged and became the eventual goal.

This new centre was envisioned to be a larger multi-purpose facility that would serve the community needs for the northwest subdivisions in the city.

This project marks a new direction for The City in designing, constructing and operating a community centre and is supported by the 2008 RPC Community Assets Needs Assessment Study (CANA) recommendations that suggests future centres server a larger area and be more multi-purpose in nature. This project was also identified as a priority in the 2014 Community Amenities prioritization process.

Facility Location

The new facility will be located at 6391 - 76 Street in Red Deer. This neighbourhood central park site houses Glendale Middle School, a kindergarten to Grade 8 (K-8) school, as well as the Glendale Skateboard Park. It is at the intersection of two main arterial roads and will require consideration and planning to accommodate these factors.

Proposed Facility Size

The contemplated size of the multi-floor facility is an estimated 22,000 sq. ft. 

Proposed Timeline

The planning and design work for the centre will be done by early 2018, followed by the construction phase. The anticipated opening of the Northside Community Centre is early 2019.

Past Feedback Serves as Launch Pad for Project

Preliminary community and stakeholder discussions and engagement related to this project began in 2010 and focused on the confirming the need and exploring the vision for a district-level community centre.

The draft “program” of the building was informed by stakeholder meetings, an online survey, community consultations, open houses, special events, and several focus group discussions and internal conversations.

This work generated a draft program statement and initial concept site plan that will assist in the next phase(s) of work leading to the construction of the facility.

The following space and programs elements ranked highly in the online survey:

• Spaces for a coffee shop, resource centre, art studio, multipurpose rooms, youth drop in centre and community kitchen. Space for fitness, drop in activities and seniors programs also scored highly.

From the focus group discussions the following spaces ranked highly:

• Multipurpose room, community kitchen, dance/yoga studio, gymnasium, outdoor rink, coffee shop, exercise centre, meeting/board room, seniors drop in space, youth drop in space and playground.

Types of programs, services and activities contemplated in the focus group discussions were:

• Classes and workshops, community kitchen, space for private functions (birthdays, etc.), arts and culture programming, meetings, special events (tournaments, conferences etc.), youth services and community garage sales and fundraisers.

Other components that are contemplated in the facility include:

• shared office space(s);
• a commercial-grade collective kitchen;
• multi-purpose space area with a 250 person capacity;
• indoor play space(s);
• community driven and created public art;
• exclusive space for community partner (offices and program space);
• outdoor patio space(s);
• plaza that connects the skate park and facility;
• significant storage, including basement storage;
• reception area; and
• parking.

Notably, inclusion of a pool and/or arena is not being contemplated for this facility.

2012 Consultation Highlights from online survey and focus group conversations

Exploring Possibilities Survey - Highlights - November 2012 (pdf)
Final Report - 2012 Focus Groups (pdf)