Another Slap in the Face for Elmwood – Letter to Winnipeg Herald

In the August 3rd, 2006 article, “Kelvin closing is community’s decision”, the President of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres (GCWCC), Steve Bemrose, said that the blame for closing of Kelvin Community Centre falls on the residents of Elmwood alone.  He says this is because we didn’t attend meetings or volunteer for board duties.  In respect to residents having to use Chalmers or Bronx Park Community Centres, he said “If our kids can’t walk three blocks, then we got a problem.”  Correction, Mr. Bemrose: many Elmwood residents will need to walk over five kilometres (which in some places is EIGHTEEN blocks EACH WAY) to get to Bronx Park CC and back (for these same residents, Chalmers CC is a 4 km round trip).  But how far is that?  Well, 5 km is the distance of walking north from your office at Osborne and Corydon, over the Assiniboine River, up past City Hall, and all the way over Disraeli Freeway to Elmwood; that’s quite a commute for a 5-year-old.

The April 10th, 2006 annual general meeting for Kelvin was advertised in the Herald, in a small ad box in one weekly newspaper, which unfortunately is not read by or even delivered to all Elmwood residents.  Those residents who did hear of the meeting (most by seeing a sheet of paper affixed to the door of the community centre) found that they hadn’t reached the required number of twenty participants in order to vote on a new board.  So several residents (including ourselves) gave our names to Marlene Amell, the executive director of the GCWCC, who told us we would be contacted to discuss the future of Kelvin.  No one was called.

So city council has voted and decided to close Kelvin Community Centre.  But even before that vote took place, the entire playground at Kelvin was destroyed in front of the children and staff of the youth drop-in centre that is being run out of Kelvin (and will have nowhere to go next summer).  You can find more information on this poorly orchestrated demolition at www.savekelvin.com

The actions of our municipal government is completely contrary to the mission statement of the City of Winnipeg’s Community Development and Recreation Services Department, which says it will: “contribute to neighbourhood development […] through the provision of recreation and leisure services, with a particular focus on Winnipeg’s HIGH NEED populations.”  Perhaps if the councillors who voted for closure had actually spent any time visiting or researching Elmwood, they’d see that we have a large single-family population, a low median income level, and the lowest level of school-readiness in Canada.  We think that qualifies as high-need.

Many Elmwood residents are outraged that this decision was taken, not only because services are being removed from Elmwood without compensation, but also because it was done WITHOUT community consultation.  Would it have been so difficult for the GCWCC to use some of its grant money to send a mailout to the community?  It’s hard for community centre volunteers and board members to appear out of nowhere; people need to be told of a problem before they can provide a solution.

So it’s time for Elmwood residents to have our meeting and discuss the future of our community centre.  This meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 30th at 7pm, at Kelvin Community Centre.  Our councillor, Lillian Thomas, has indicated that she will be in attendance.  At this meeting, we’ll be bringing forward several ideas that we’ve heard from fellow residents on what to do with our community centre.  Together, we will draft a statement, to be signed by as many Elmwood residents as possible, outlining the ideas that we as a neighbourhood feel should be explored further.  And we will send a clear message to the mayor and city council that we will NOT ACCEPT the sale of Kelvin’s Henderson frontage.  In order to make this meeting count, we need to have at least twenty people in attendance, and we can send a much stronger message with more people participating.  More information on the upcoming meeting can be found at www.savekelvin.com

If you would like someone to give you a call to discuss the situation and to let you know how you can get involved, please leave a message at the Kelvin Community Centre at 667-9186.

Also, please call the following civic officials to let them know how you feel about being left out of this community decision:

Mayor Sam Katz
986-2171

Councillor Lillian Thomas
986-5195

Steven Bemrose, President, GCWCC
475-5008

And if you get a chance, let them know that the unwanted closure of Kelvin is indeed just another slap in the face for Elmwood, but that this time we’re not going to sit back and let it happen.

P.S.: Mr. Bemrose, we’d like to invite you to walk with us from the Redwood Bridge to Bronx Park Community Centre; for added realism, we might be able to arrange for you to escort three young children on the trip.

John King, Regan Wolfrom, and Christine McIntyre
Concerned Elmwood Neighbours
www.savekelvin.com