Yara Centre Joining Parks and Recreation Highlights

As part of Council approving a third party management firm model to operate and manage Mosaic Place the Downtown Facility and Fieldhouse (DFFH) is now eliminated with the Yara Centre to become under direct control of the Parks and Recreation Department.

Staff will be transferred into the City of Moose Jaw effective January 1st, 2018. There will be no job losses in the move.

In a comprehensive report City Manager Jim Puffalt recommended major changes in the management of the two facilities.

Puffalt made his recommendations based upon integrating the Yara Centre into direct City Hall control due to several factors:

• the Parks and Recreation Department is highly skilled at providing programming and operating facilities. The Yara Centre has operated almost independently of Mosaic Place for years.

• the Yara Centre and Parks and Recreation Department possess massive potential if they work together and bring programming under one organization. A unified user pass with other City owned facilities is possible.

• the City has sufficient resources to provide facility and grounds maintenance as well as financial and payroll services.

• presently the Yara Centre has an appropriate staffing level and there will be minor budgetary pressures due to the move to City salaries.

• the Yara Centre had a budgeted subsidy of $202,000 but on September 30, 2018 the facility had a $43,000 surplus. A worst case scenario of a $100,000 surplus was seen for 2019.

• an existing user is presently in negotiations to effectively rent a major part of the prime available hours.