New Burnaby community centre in jeopardy due to funding shortfall

Burnaby city council may put the brakes on a multi-million dollar community centre because of ballooning costs.

Work on the $240 million Confederation Park Community Centre project was supposed to start this fall, which also includes a new seniors’ lounge.

However, a report being tabled Monday night says changes to provincial legislation, which affect how cities can use density bonuses from developers, mean the city can no longer tap into that money in the same way, so the project is no longer fully covered.

But Coun. Pietro Calendino is against a deferral, saying the report shows that part of the city needs the redeveloped community centre.

“I did point out that the northwest part of Burnaby is underserved in terms of parks and rec facilities and services,” he explained.

Calendino says he’s also concerned that the longer the city delays the project the higher it will cost.

Tazul Ali with the Burnaby Seniors Society says a delay would affect everyone.

“If seniors are not finding spaces to go safely, that leads to a lot of other problems afterwards,” she explained.

The report says that if the project ends up being deferred by council, contracts will be cancelled. You can watch CityNews 24/7 live or listen live to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver to keep up to date with this story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.