The Arborg-Bifrost Parks and Recreation Commission advisory committee hosted an open house last week to gather public feedback on a proposal to build new soccer and baseball grounds.
The proposed sports fields will include a new building. Land has not yet been designated for the new facilities
The Town of Arborg and the Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton will now continue discussions about funding.
The current sports fields behind the Arborg arena, pool and curling club have been earmarked for the construction of a new personal care home the province has committed to build.
The Feb. 9 meeting at the Arborg hall outlined plans for new fields at a location yet to be determined.
The meeting drew residents from both Arborg and Bifrost-Riverton, which share recreation costs in Arborg on a 50-50 basis. Because Bifrost-Riverton surrounds the town, its residents regularly use Arborg facilities.
The meeting included background on the proposed sports grounds, information from earlier planning sessions and a public survey, and potential funding sources.
Town of Arborg chief administrative officer Cindy Stansell said about 83 members of the public attended — 47 from Bifrost-Riverton, 31 from Arborg and five from the Rural Municipality of Armstrong, whose residents also use the facilities.
“There was a lot of great input provided at the open house that the committee will bring back to review and discuss,” said Stansell.
Attendees viewed a mock-up of what the proposed soccer and baseball fields could look like, along with a building to house sports equipment.
Land for the new fields has not yet been designated, and the town is waiting for a funding commitment from Bifrost-Riverton.
“A location has not been selected as of yet,” said Stansell. “The Town of Arborg and Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton have long been partners on recreation and we currently have a commitment from the Town of Arborg towards 50 per cent of the land purchase, and we are just awaiting a decision from the Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton for their portion of the property. Once we have a commitment secured, the committee will begin looking for the appropriate land to fit the vision of the community.”
Stansell said that although the town and Bifrost-Riverton “would need to share in the purchase of the land” and cover future maintenance costs, the actual construction of the facility [i.e., grounds and building] will be financially shouldered for the most part by the provincial government, which awarded Arborg a $1.2-million matching grant under the GRO program (Manitoba Growth, Renewal and Opportunities for Municipalities).
Committed to getting the new sports fields built, the town will be embarking on fundraising initiatives and applying for more grants.
“The construction of the actual facility will be made possible thanks in large part to a grant from the Manitoba provincial government. The Town of Arborg applied for and received a grant of $1.2 million through the Manitoba GRO Program,” said Stansell. “This is a matching grant so we’re now looking for ways to raise enough funds for the remainder. We’re looking at fundraising ideas, local donations and applying for additional grants to help make this project happen. At the end of the day, we will only build whatever we are able to raise funds for.”
The Town of Arborg operates as a political entity separate from the Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton. But the two local governments share the cost of recreation in Arborg. Bifrost-Riverton also provides separate funding for recreation in Riverton, which is not cost-shared with Arborg.
A few years ago, the provincial department of municipal relations conducted an evaluation under its municipal service delivery improvement program after Arborg requested a review of its fiscal and shared services with the Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton.
Released in 2023, the document titled Arborg: Municipal Service Delivery Improvement Program states that Bifrost-Riverton underwent the same evaluation in 2022 and that it “focused on MBR’s fiscal position and detailed challenges with Arborg’s shared services.”
The evaluation of Arborg’s fiscal and shared services includes recreation.
Some of the challenges the 2023 Arborg report notes are “contention regarding shared services cost sharing [sic] between municipalities” and “increasing fire services and recreation budgets.”
The Express reached out to Bifrost-Riverton and council for comment on the new recreation grounds and the funding request from Arborg.
Chief administrative officer Larissa Love said Arborg had passed a resolution committing up to $400,000 for the purchase of land for the new sports grounds, and that half of that amount ($200,000) will have to come from Bifrost-Riverton.
“The TOA [Town of Arborg] is asking for a commitment of 50 per cent up to $400,000 …,” said Love, and she further added that Bifrost-Riverton has “not at this time” approved this cost-sharing proposal.
“Council wants an opportunity to review committee budgets and see how it will impact taxes,” said Love, and “the 2026 budget is not complete.”
As regards possible contributions from Bifrost-Riverton to build the actual grounds and building, Love said Arborg hasn’t asked for that.
“Arborg has not yet asked for any contributions towards the matching grant. No plan has been shared as to how Arborg will be matching the funds,” she said.
When asked about other soccer/baseball grounds in Arborg, Love said she doesn’t know what’s available, but Riverton has a number of facility options for the two sports.
“In Riverton, we currently use the baseball diamonds on Park Avenue at the skate park for our youth baseball program, and we set up two U7-U9 soccer fields on the green space behind the baseball diamond,” she said. “There are also three baseball diamonds at Riverton Collegiate. We also use the soccer field at the Riverton Early Middle School for U11-U13. The soccer field at the Riverton Collegiate is available for U15-U18.”
The Express asked Love how much Arborg-Bifrost (i.e. shared costs between the two local governments) spends on recreation and how much Bifrost-Riverton spends on recreation in its municipality.
