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Nelson  

Recreation project for Campbell Field on hold until Nelson, Castlegar issues clarified

Campbell Field simmering

Lost in the shuffle of the Nelson recreation campus debate is the fate of Campbell Field at the junction between Nelson and Castlegar.

Two years ago the field was in the news as the Regional District of Central Kootenay explored the possibilities to utilize the land — located at the Playmor Junction, adjacent to Mount Sentinel Secondary School and the Slocan Valley Rail Trail — after it was gifted to the RDCK in 2016 by the South Slocan Sports Association.

A final design and report was produced out of an extensive public engagement process, but those findings could change as the sagas of the recreation campus in Nelson, and the Castlegar, electoral areas I and J, are moved forward.

“Campbell Field is waiting upon the results of (those) consultations,” said RDCK general manager for community services, Joe Chirico. “The work from two years ago will be used with the current consultations to map out next steps.”

At the time of the Campbell Field conversation the broader community and RDCK staff were not aware of the immanent closure of Pioneer Arena or the ongoing issues with the Nelson Curling Club and the issues with the Civic Centre Arena, Chirico added.

“Campbell Field was intended to be a collaborative project between the areas H, E, F, I, J and the cities of Castlegar and Nelson, but with the significant issues with important recreational assets the district needs to pause this planning process to consider the impacts of the current consultations,” he pointed out.

The Campbell Field project will be tempered with the broader context of recreation facilities in Nelson and Castlegar and electoral areas, Chirico stated.

“Any project at Campbell Field needs to add to the indoor/outdoor recreational mix and should not duplicate a current recreational service/facility,” he said.

Deadline looms

The group survey for the Nelson recreation campus is still open until Jan. 15 at 4 p.m.

"We have seen a low response rate from groups and want to encourage group representatives to check their emails as an invite to participate was sent prior to the Christmas break," said Chirico.

The RDCK will also be following up this week with a reminder to those representatives to fill out the survey.

"We really want to ensure that our community recreation groups are able to provide their input from a group perspective. We ask that only one response is given on behalf of an organization," he said.



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