BARRHEAD - Whether lacrosse is coming to Barrhead is still up in the air, Town parks and recreation director Shallon Touet told councillors at their Feb. 11 meeting.
"I think the interest is still there," he said in response to a Coun. Dausen Kluin.
Touet was at the meeting to update council on his department's activities.
Kluin noted Westlock Lacrosse had expressed interest in hosting teams or games at the Agrena late last year before council approved its Rate and Fees Bylaw.
Touet said he contacted Westlock Lacrosse's president in January, who, at that point, indicated they were still interested in using the Agrena.
The organization held a series of open houses at Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) on Dec. 20, Jan. 24 and Jan. 31.
From his understanding, Touet said, the events were well received, with over 20 people attending the first open house.
Recreation department stats
Touet said most of the department's staff work for the Barrhead Regional Aquatics Centre, with 53 employees, 11 of whom are full-time.
He added that the aquatic centre is open for 82 hours on a typical week.
"For January, that equates to 398 shifts or 1,930 staff hours," Touet said, adding attendance for the month included 2,333 drop-ins and 1,666 visits from pass users.
The aquatics centre plans to offer Saturday morning swim lessons starting in April.
"The demand's been there, especially from our rural customers," Touet said.
Coun. Ty Assaf asked if the aquatics centre was still having trouble attracting lifeguards, noting last year, the town sponsored a lifeguard certification course in hopes they could hire some of the graduates.
"We actually have one running now, but we are mostly training people for other locations because we have enough [lifeguards]. The real problem is that we, like every other swimming pool, keep losing lifeguards [who are mostly high school students] who go to college or university," he said, adding in September, the swimming pool expects to lose 10 lifeguards. "That's the thing about swimming pools; they are a revolving door for staffing."
The Agrena
The Agrena has six full-time employees, and it is open daily in the winter from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., with 240 hours of assigned staff shifts.
Touet said hockey season is winding down, with most Barrhead Minor Hockey Association age groups' regular seasons ending in late February to early March, followed by league playoffs, provincial downs, and adult user tournaments with the ice scheduled to be removed by April 6.
Programming
Touet said the parks and recreation has one full-time employee, recreation coordinator Baukje Strawson, augmented by two or three part-casual staff to help her stage events.
"The next big event is probably Easter's egg hunt," he said. "You can't provide enough chocolate for the amount of kids that show up. It is crazy," he said.
Touet added the recreation department has had several requests for yoga classes.
"We have run a couple of yoga classes at a loss just to keep the instructor, and hopefully, by word of mouth, attendance will pick up," he said.
Notable parks and recreation for 2025
Touet said the department has several capital improvement projects scheduled for municipal facilities this year, including new flooring for the Charles Godberson Rotary Room in the Agrena, replacement of a dressing room boiler, new fencing for the dog park, swimming pool chemical controllers, repairs or replacement of the curling rink chair lift, new equipment for Agrena's concession stand, a basketball court for Denthor Park and the addition of a new bicycle skills track at the all-wheeled park.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
