Your voice was heard, Prince George.
Monday’s regular council meeting saw the new Masich Place Stadium walking hours for the public fall more in line with the old stadium’s schedule.
Opening at 6am most days and closing at 9pm, the public will regularly get most, and sometimes all, of that 15 hour span to do as they wish.
Councillor Brian Skakun, who had been vocal about wanting to extend the originally planned hours, praises the city for the work done in a short amount of time.
“It was amazing, we had a petition tonight with over 2,000 signatures, they got mobilized within a week, to let us know loud and clear that the hours that Administration was proposing from 6am to 1pm was not acceptable and I think the community is going to be happy.”
About two dozen residents attended Monday’s meeting to see how the hours would be set. Some even applauded at the end of councillors’ presentations thanking them for their work and acknowledging a need for more available hours.
Certain time slots will be taken up by user groups who pay to use the services. Times pictured may change to accommodate the user groups as scheduled use is expected to rise 60% immediately after opening. Skakun says it is a bit of a balancing act but should serve everyone sufficiently.
“The user groups that are going to be paying to use it are going to have priority during certain periods but what the City is going to do with communication is they are going to have it listed on the website, at the track when the public hours are, when the user groups are going to be using it, but I think it’s going to be a combination that’s going to work.”
The drafted hours will be implemented for the rest of 2018. A consultation process is expected to sort out 2019 hours.
The new Masich Place Stadium is expected to open for the public August 7. An official opening could be in the works for later that month.