Langford City council has unanimously approved the sale of the North Langford Rec Centre.
The City will receive a minimum of $3.5 million dollars from the sale, and as of November 30th the proponent "Bear Mountain Adventures" will be able to begin completing any necessary repairs and upgrades to the facility prior to it's reopening.
Langford's Director of Corporate Services Braden Hutchins says that while he expects the facility to officially reopen it's doors sometime next year, he notes that if necessary repairs to the rec centre are not completed, then they will be undertaken by the City at the owner's expense.
Hutchins also addressed rumours that the sale of the North Langford Rec Centre could mean significant changes for the facility -- assuring patrons that the City has a clause with the proponent that would prevent non-recreational based initiatives from being planned for the next twenty-five years.
"The current recreation uses as they are, are required to be maintained for twenty-five years," said Hutchins. "The only place that the purchase and sale agreement allows for alternative uses, is the building that's located on the left side of the facility."
According to city -- retail uses in the original building may be expanded by 12.5 per cent from the current amount of retail use, provided the City is compensated for this change in use as demonstrated by an appraisal. Meanwhile any modifications to the original building will not result in a loss of greater than 12.5 per cent of the interior portion of the build ordinarily accessible to the public.
At this time any upcoming changes to the property haven't yet been confirmed, though a second pool is expected to be built on the property directly behind the rec centre, which is also owned by the proponent "Bear Mountain Adventures".
"There's some unused and under utilized land in that area that would facilitate the expansion of a second pool." said Hutchins during Tuesday's council meeting.
The North Langford Rec Centre is expected to reopen to the public sometime next year, following upgrades and repairs. It's also unknown if there will be any changes to rec fees, as Langford staff say that decision will be made by the new owners of the property.