UBCM is preparing its annual report on expenditures through the federal Gas Tax Fund and over the coming weeks we will providing highlights on the program and its impact on communities. This week we are profiling the program’s fastest growing investment category: recreational infrastructure.
Since 2014, over 800 individual recreation infrastructure projects have been reported totalling over $140 million of GTF investment. Investment has expanded from $3 million and 40 projects in 2014, to over $24 million investment and 229 projects reported in 2019.
During the reporting period, the District of Vanderhoof and Bulkley Nechako Regional District worked together to construct the 16,000 square foot Vanderhoof Aquatic Centre. The building, which is constructed to a LEED Gold standard equivalent, features a six-lane lap pool; leisure pool; a family hot pool; and sauna. The new aquatic centre provides services to residents throughout the region and hosts over 30,000 visitors annually based on pre-pandemic figures. The federal Gas Tax Fund contributed over $8 million toward the $12.3 million total cost of this project.