Central Nova Scotia Civic Centre Project gets underway

The success of any major community endeavor is driven by teamwork, commitment and enthusiasm, the Central Nova Scotia Regional Civic Centre Project is proving that it has plenty of this. Significant financial commitments have been confirmed by the Town of Truro, the Municipality of Colchester, and the Province of Nova Scotia ($10 million) and a recent verbal commitment to support the project by Peter MacKay on behalf of the Federal Government. These commitments coupled with countless hours of meetings and research by the Project Steering Committee has provided the building blocks for a successful endeavor.

The Project Steering Committee was formed to provide insight and representation for the residents of Central Nova Scotia. This committee along with representatives from both the Town of Truro and Municipality of Colchester have worked together to implement a vision shared by the residents of Central

Nova Scotia to build a facility that reaches out beyond the offerings of a traditional recreational facility and meets the needs of all citizens. The Project Steering Committee is comprised of the following members:

• Rob MacEachern: Volunteer Chair – Design and Construction Committee
• Debbie Elliott: Volunteer Chair – Public Relations Committee
• Jon Stanfield: Volunteer Chair – Fundraising Committee
• Terry Hunt: Volunteer Chair – User Group/Space Programming Committee
• Bob Taylor: Mayor, Municipality of Colchester
• Bill Masters: Councillor, Municipality of Colchester
• Greg MacArthur: Deputy Mayor, Town of Truro
• Brian Kinsman: Councillor, Town of Truro
• Paul Smith: Project Manager
• Kathy Sutherland: Fund Raising/Public Relations Coordinator

These individuals along with their respective committees have been instrumental in the success of the civic centre project to date.

“We are currently in the planning stages of the project” notes Bob Taylor, Co- Chair of the Civic Centre Project and Mayor for the Municipality of Colchester. “We have recently engaged the services of a Fund Raising Consultant to assist with the planning and execution of a successful capital campaign. In essence, there will be a lot of behind the scenes work taking place over the next few months” says Taylor.

Greg MacArthur, Co-Chair of the Civic Centre Project and Deputy Mayor for the Town of Truro notes “the commitment by all citizens to this project has clearly been the backbone of its success to date. Shortly, we will see even more excitement with the awarding of the Architectural Design Services contract and provide residents with proposed visual designs of the civic centre.”

Citizens of Central Nova Scotia have recognized for years that new and updated facilities are needed in the Region to address programming limitations and deficiencies with existing recreational infrastructure that are unable to accommodate sport development and growth. In 2006, dmA Planning & Management Services completed a study confirming that the Region was deficient in their current facility offerings. In response to this study and much vocal involvement by citizens, the Town of Truro, and the County of Colchester were incorporated into a Memorandum of Understanding in July 2008. This agreement confirmed many important aspects of the proposed Centre and brought much excitement to Central Nova Scotia and beyond.