NORTH BATTLEFORD — The Battlefords River Valley Centre is no longer home to Destination Battlefords or to the Battlefords Wildlife Federation displays.
At their meeting Monday, city council in North Battleford voted in favour of renovations to the venue to become the new home for the city's fleet and building manager and building maintenance staff and operations.
News that the building at 801 - River Valley Dr. will soon be a venue for maintenance staff might come as a surprise to residents who have not been to the River Valley Centre for some time.
The River Valley Centre had previously been known as the Battlefords Wildlife Federation Nature Centre and had long held displays depicting animals and birds.
In 2014, the Battlefords River Valley Authority took over the assets of the building, with Battlefords Tourism and Convention Association taking over management of the facility and renaming it the Battlefords River Valley Visitors Centre.
Since then, Destination Battlefords had housed their offices in the venue and used the site as a tourist information venue. The animal and bird displays remained under agreement with the Wildlife Federation, and the venue has continued to be used by the public for meetings and various barbecue and outdoor events.
But things have changed considerably at the venue. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down public access to the venue for a long period of time, but there have been other changes as well.
A number of years ago, the province withdrew as a partner in the River Valley Authority following provincial funding cuts. Then last fall, the town of Battleford voted to pull out of Destination Battlefords. The town ended its financial contribution effective Dec. 31, 2021 and ended their participation on the board as of Feb. 11, 2022.
At council Monday, administration confirmed Destination Battlefords has moved out of the River Valley Centre. It was also confirmed by Director of Operations Stewart Schafer that Battlefords Wildlife Federation had taken out the animal displays, and some of those have been moved to Regina.
Also, it was reported in a city memo that on March 2, 2022, three individuals had tried to break into the building and had damaged the security cameras there. According to city administration, it is believed the venue was targeted because there was no activity at the building.
The plan now is to move the building maintenance crews into the River Valley location. Currently the fleet maintenance manager and building maintenance manager have been located in the Don Ross Centre building while staff have been located in the parks shop. The parks shop has limited space, according to administration. Schafer had said they had planned to move them to the airport shop, but that would have been more expensive.
Instead, the intention now is for them to move all of them into the east side of the River Valley Centre building where Destination Battlefords and the wildlife display had been located.
The east side would be renovated for staff workspaces and storage. The kitchen and cafeteria on the west side would remain for meetings and event rentals. The current offices in the building will be occupied by the fleet maintenance manager, building maintenance supervisor and a part-time administrative assistant.
Schafer told council they plan to install work stations, staff construction change rooms, chain link fences on the east side of the building, security cameras and other items. Also, Schafer said they will be storing their building maintenance items at the venue, which are right now stored all over the city.
The total renovation cost is estimated at $52,470, and will come out of the $115,000 already allocated in the 2022 budget towards the airport maintenance shop renovations. The airport shop project has now been pushed back and will be less extensive than previously thought.
A main benefit cited is that the River Valley venue will no longer be vacant, and will be maintained for future use. City Manager Randy Patrick said they will be able to open up the adjacent pond again to the public as a venue for people to have picnics or outdoor activities.
“What we wanted to do with this is ensure that the building also has a potential for future use for River Valley interpretation or River Valley ski rentals, whatever it is in the future,” said Patrick.
The intention is to bring back to council something for council’s consideration regarding the revitalization of the areas around the pond.
