Delegates from Volleyball BC are worried about the future of their home base at Burnaby’s Harry Jerome Sports Centre.
CEO Emma Gibbons told council Sept. 23 a new consultant’s report on the condition of the facility indicates the sports centre – which hosts many of Volleyball BC’s youth clinics, camps and adult leagues – needs significant capital upgrades the non-profit can’t afford.
Gibbons is concerned Volleyball BC’s lease won’t be renewed if it can’t pay for the upgrades.
If the lease isn’t renewed, Gibbons said the non-profit would expect a full reimbursement of money it paid to replace the facility’s roof last year.
The project cost $1.9 million and was paid for by a $750,000 grant from the federal government, $680,000 from Volleyball BC savings, and $500,000 from the City of Burnaby, according to Gibbons.
Gibbons said Volleyball BC went ahead with the project because city representatives gave a verbal confirmation the lease would be extended.
Volleyball BC board member Ryan Gandy said the group would never have replaced the roof if it didn’t have confirmation the lease would be extended, and instead would have ended the lease when the term ended.
He said the arrangement was, if Volleyball BC put the new roof on, it would get the facility for a 10-year lease plus three one-year extensions.
“And so that’s what we went ahead with at that point,” he said.
When the Volleyball BC’s point of contact with the city changed from parks to lands and facilities, Cornerstone Planning Group was hired to assess the facility’s condition and found aging infrastructure that requires upgrading, according to Gibbons.
General manager of lands and facilities James Lota said the current terms of the lease state Volleyball BC is responsible for capital upgrades on the facility.
Mayor Mike Hurley said he would wait to see what Cornerstone recommends before asking more questions.
Lota said the consultant’s report will be presented to council before the end of this year.
