Beltline Community Hub is closing a year after transitioning to serve vulnerable Calgarians
CBC
The Beltline Community Hub is closing its doors just a year after transitioning to serve vulnerable Calgarians — leaving residents living in the inner city with one less public gathering space with accessible programming.
Formerly the Beltline Aquatic and Fitness Centre, the City of Calgary will be officially closing the facility after nearly 70 years.
"The City of Calgary has explained that the costs to renovate the aging facility and bring it up to modern standards is prohibitive," said a statement from the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association.
The city declined to comment until the matter is discussed in council on Sept. 27, and it couldn't confirm the official date of the community hub's closure.
Tiffany Thrift often brings her son to the hub's preschool drop-in during the winter but recently saw online that the program had been discontinued.
She says she wishes the city would find a way to keep the facility hub open.
"It just feels like they're always closing the downtown things," said Thrift. "All of the resources are being put in the expanding communities, and then the downtown communities — which includes many families — seems to be having fewer and fewer activities to partake in."
In 2019, the city proposed closing the Beltline Aquatic and Fitness Centre due to the age and condition of the nearly 70-year-old facility. It closed the facility's pool permanently in 2021.
So the city and community joined forces to find a second life for the facility — by creating the Beltline Community Hub.
It came with a fitness centre, an outdoor climbing wall and free community programs. In its latest incarnation, it was trying to be more of a community hub — a space for underrepresented groups to seek support and community.
Peter Oliver, president of the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association, says it's deeply disappointing that the hub is closing.
"I think it was a really fair effort by the city and everyone, but ultimately we weren't really able to find anything that really works sustainably," said Oliver.
He says the city's $45-million expansion of the MNP Community and Sport Centre — formerly known as the Repsol Sports Centre, and the Talisman Centre before that — will fill this gap, though it isn't expected to be finished for a couple of years.
Thrift says it will be a good option when it's ready, but the facility is quite costly.
Jenelle Hughes says she worries every time her two older children take their car to get to Fanshawe College in London, Ont., from their home in Dutton.
Oil prices fell Monday morning after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hold off on striking Iran’s energy infrastructure amid productive talks between the two countries.
While spring technically started late last week, Newfoundland and Labrador isn't free from winter weather just yet.
The Sudbury School Bus Consortium is suspending all school buses in Greater Sudbury as the community continues to clean up following a major storm.
Two large corporate landlords owning a combined 9,008 rental units in Halifax are reporting smaller annual increases in their average rents for 2025 than the previous year.
The Holt government has reached a deal with Ottawa on compensation for tens of millions of dollars in lost sales tax revenue from the Christmas season in 2024.
The government of Saskatchewan has announced plans to reduce the length of non-resident game bird hunting licences to combat illegal guiding.
An 87-year-old Alberta man is fighting extradition to the United Kingdom to stand trial for historical allegations of physical and sexual assault involving minors.
Eight casinos across southwest B.C. have been sold to First Nations in the last two years, with the province's gambling scene set to be reshaped as a result.
Hamilton hosts the Junos Sunday, and the musical awards show is bringing tourists, musicians, concerts and a ton of themed events to the city this week.
The multi-million-dollar deal at the heart of a high-profile fight between the Canadian government and one of the world’s biggest carmakers contains multiple clauses about the company’s footprint in Ontario, according to a copy obtained by CBC Windsor.
In recent months, Calgary police have carried out three day-long safety blitzes, parading out dozens of officers to flood an area with their increased presence — at least, temporarily.
A national organization is seeking people with experience in Canada's forestry sector as they put together a working group that will examine ways to improve forest recovery following wildfires.