INNISFAIL – Some initial opponents to the controversial universal change room policy for the modernized Innisfail Aquatic Centre have finally changed their minds, say town officials.
“We've definitely seen some individuals understand exactly what the layout means or how it will function change or soften their position,” said Meghan Jenkins, director of community services for the Town of Innisfail.
Jenkins was one of several Town of Innisfail senior administration officials who attended the highly anticipated and well attended public open house on Aug. 19 for the Innisfail Aquatic Centre modernization project at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre.
Officials from Chandos Construction and Group2 Architecture and town staff, who set up several artist renderings and displays for the event from 4 to 7 p.m., made themselves available for any citizen who had questions about the $14.9 million project.
Ben Steenbergen, project manager for Chandos, told the Albertan attendees were “curious about different aspects of the build” and that included the new universal change room.
“Why were decisions made? Different questions around different areas of the change room. What's accessible to others? What can you see? The accessibility, the visual aspects. A lot of really good questions (were) being asked,” said Steenbergen.
For citizens who still insist on having change room options, such as separate ones for both genders versus universal for the modernized facility, mayor Jean Barclay said the problematic ask all comes down to a budget the municipality can afford.
“We set a budget for this project for Chandos and Group2 to design what they could with the budget we gave them,” said Barclay, who was joined at the event with several council members.
“I understand that upsets people, that they want more but the reality is we can't give any more.”
“There's people that absolutely hate it, and there's people that absolutely love it, and people in between. There's some who didn't like it at first and they've changed their minds. There are people that are still on the fence.”
The mayor noted there was “quite a bit” of misinformation and disinformation earlier this year about the universal change room.
“That this is going to be an area (change room) where everybody was changing out in the open, and everybody was going to be in the nude together, and nothing could be further from the truth,” she said.
“I think once you can show people and explain how this works people do have a change of mind and they go, ‘oh, I didn't realize that's what this is.”
The public is also invited to add more input into the project at the Fall Registration Night on Sept. 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Innisfail Twin Arena.
There will also be a second public open house in the week of Sept. 15. An exact date and time have not yet been released by the town.
