Township of Manitouwadge Recreation, Parks and Facilities Master Plan Draft: April 6, 2021 Township of Manitouwadge Recreation, Parks and Facilities Master Plan Contents 1.0 Introduction 2 1.1 Purpose of the Master Plan 2 1.2 Planning Process 3 2.0 Background and Community Context 6 2.1 Community Context 6 2.2 Manitouwadge Socio-Demographic Profile 8 2.3 Summary of Relevant Plans and Studies 11 2.4 Summary of Relevant Policies and By-laws 20 3.0 Programs and Events 26 3.1 Overview of Current Supply 27 3.2 What We Heard: Summary of Community Consultation 31 3.3 Assessment and Recommendations 33 4.0 Facilities 46 4.1 Overview of Current Supply and Use 46 4.2 What We Heard: Summary of Community Consultation 48 4.3 Assessment and Recommendations: New Facility Requirements 49 4.4 Assessment and Recommendations: Existing Facility Requirements 51 4.5 Assessments and Recommendations 54 5.0 Parks 67 5.1 Overview of Current Supply 67 5.2 What We Heard: Summary of Community Consultation 72 5.3 Park Assessment and Recommendations 74 5.4 Parks Policy 84 Table of Contents III 6.0 Service Delivery 90 6.1 Municipal Role and Structure in Providing Recreation Services 90 6.2 Partnerships, Collaborations and Supporting Other Providers 95 6.3 Service Planning and Evaluation 100 6.4 Policies, Procedures and Agreements 103 7.0 Implementation Strategy 114 Introduction 114 7.1 Implementation Considerations 115 7.2 Programs and Events Recommendations 117 7.3 Facilities Recommendations 120 7.4 Parks Recommendations 126 7.5 Service Delivery Recommendations 130 Appendix A: Community Consultation Summary 142 A1. Community Consultation Summary 143 A2. Highlights from Household Surveys 153 Appendix B: Programs Participation & Facilities Use 182 B1. Program Participation 183 B2. Facilities Use by User Groups 184 B3. Arena Schedule 186 Appendix C: Parks 188 C1. Community Orchard & Edible Forest Policy 189 C2. Parks Services and Memorial Program 198 C3. City of Kenora Parks By-Law 200 Appendix D: Service Delivery 218 D1. Parks and Recreation Committee 219 IV April 2021 Township of Manitouwadge Recreation, Parks and Facilities Master Plan D2. Committee Details/Terms of Reference 220 D3. The Corporation of the Township of Manitouwadge 223 Appendix E: Funding Opportunities 226 E1. Overview of Grant and Funding Opportunities 227 Table of Contents V List of Tables Table 2-1: Population Projections for Manitouwadge and Thunder Bay District 2021-2031 (Sources: Canada Census, Statistics Canada; Thunder Bay District projections from Ontario Ministry of Finance). Manitouwadge’s population projections calculated using average population growth rate from 1996 -2016. 8 Table 2-2: 2016 Manitouwadge Age Group Percentage (Source: 2016 Canada Census, Statistics Canada) 8 Table 2-3: 2016 Manitouwadge Age Group Percentage (Source: 2016 Canada Census, Statistics Canada) 9 Table 2-4: 2016 Thunder Bay District Age Group Percentage (Source: 2016 Canada Census, Statistics Canada) 9 Table 3-2: Recreation programs and activities available for each age group 28 Table 3-3: Township Events 29 Table 3-4: Population in Chapleau, Marathon, and Manitouwadge, 2006-2016 30 Table 3-5: Preschool programs at the EarlyON Centre 35 Table 3-6: Programs provided by the Manitouwadge Golden Age Centre 41 Table 4-1: Summary of municipal recreation facilities 47 Table 4-2: Facility Interests 49 Table 4-3: Population-based carrying costs 52 Table 4-4: User/Uses-based Carrying Costs for 2019 52 Table 4-5: 2018-2019 Curling Rink Revenues 57 Table 4-6: Revenues and Expenses of Kiwissa Ski Hill 60 Table 4-7: Net Costs and Cost Recovery 63 Table 4-8: Cost Recovery Figures 63 Table 5-1: Parks in Manitouwadge 70 Table 5-2: Total number of major park amenities in Manitouwadge 70 Table 5-3: Provision of selected municipal park amenities in comparable communities 71 Table 5-4: Proposed parks classification system 85 Table 6-5: Examples of Commemorative Tree and Bench Programs 110 Table 6-6: Curling Rink Budgeted and Actual Revenues 111 VI April 2021 Township of Manitouwadge Recreation, Parks and Facilities Master Plan Table 7-1: Implementation of Programs and Events Recommendations 118 Table 7-2: Implementation of Facilities Recommendations 120 Table 7-2: Implementation of Facilities Recommendations (continued) 122 Table 7-2: Implementation of Facilities Recommendations (continued) 124 Table 7-3: Implementation of Parks Recommendations 126 Table 7-3: Implementation of Parks Recommendations (continued) 128 Table 7-4: Implementation of Service Delivery Recommendations 130 Table 7-4: Implementation of Service Delivery Recommendations (continued) 132 Table 7-5: Estimated Costs for Recommended Facility Improvements 136 Table 7-6: Estimated Costs for Recommended Park Improvements 138 Table A-1: Groups invited to participate in the user group survey for the Master plan. 143 Table A-2: Results for Question 9, “Please Identify the factors that you think will contribute to stable or changing membership/participation levels in your organization over the next five years?” (N=3 Groups). 148 Table A-3: Results for Question 42, “What improvements does your organization think are necessary to facilitate your groups current or future use of parks?” (N=4 Groups). 151 Table A-4: Results for Question 16, “Please Identify the factors that you think will contribute to stable or changing attendance levels at your events over the next five years. (Please check all that apply).” (N=4 Groups). 151 Table A-5: Results for Question 59, “We are interested in your organization’s views concerning financial support for parks and recreation services development. Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with the following statements” (N=4 Groups). 152 Table A-6: Results for Question 10, “Of the facilities you or members of your household use, what are the top three most in need of improvement?” (N=71/200). 162 Table A-7: Results for Question 12, “What type(s) of facilities would you or members of your household be interested in using?” (N= 40/200). 163 Table A-8: Results for Question 17, “What activities do you engage in at these parks?” (N=159/200). 163 Table A-9: Results for Question 10, “Of the facilities you or members of your household use, what are the top three most in need of improvement?” (N= 28/95). 168 Table A-10: Results for Question 12, “What type(s) of facilities would you or members of your household be interested in using?” (N= 37/95). 170 Table of Contents VII List of Figures Figure 2-1: Manitouwadge Context Map 7 Figure 2-2: Projected Population Aging for Thunder Bay District from 2016-2031. Numbers/ Percentages may not add up due to rounding. (Sources: Canadian Census, Statistics Canada; Ontario Ministry of Finance Population Projections). 10 Figure 3-1: Results for the top three municipalities for Question 23, “In which programs or activities do you or members of your household participate in each of the municipalities?” (telephone survey) 31 Figure 3-2: Icestock Sport 38 Figure 3-3: Possible Topics for Short Duration Programs 40 Figure 4-1: Manitouwadge Community Centre - Image provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 46 Figure 4-2: Manitouwadge Curling Club - Image provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 51 Figure 4-3: Manitouwadge Arena - Image provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 54 Figure 4-4: Kiwissa Ski Hill - Image provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 61 Figure 5-1: Lions Beach - Photo provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 67 Figure 5-2: Parks and Facilities Map 68 Figure 5-3: Prospector’s Park - Image provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 72 Figure 5-4: Tobogganing Area - Image provided by the Township of Manitouwadge 73 Figure 5-5: Example of an outdoor exercise station 75 Figure 5-6: Proposed location for the outdoor education centre at Lion’s beach 77 Figure 5-7: Example of a gazebo/shade structure 77 Figure 5-8: Sharing Library at Agawa Gardens (Photographed by Reene Warren) 80 Figure 6-1: Municipal Organizational Structure for Parks and Recreation Services. *Note: one staff member rotates between the Golf Course in summer, and Ski Hill in winter. Therefore, the two positions with the asterisks are held by one individual. 91 VIII April 2021 Township of Manitouwadge Recreation, Parks and Facilities Master Plan 1.0 Introduction 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Purpose of the Master Plan The Township of Manitouwadge embarked On the demand side, the community has on a study to prepare a Recreation, Parks experienced a significant decline in population and Facilities Master Plan that will provide over the last 20 years, as its resource based the Township with long-term direction for the economy has changed and jobs have been provision of recreation and parks services to the lost. As a result, recreation facilities are able to community’s residents and visitors. accommodate more use and programming than now occurs. The Township of Manitouwadge is unique in many aspects: in its remote location, its As a forward-looking strategy to overcome abundance of natural assets, its mining origins, these challenges, the Township has a strong and its generous supply of recreation facilities. focus on economic development through The Township also faces certain challenges recreation and tourism, and in so doing, making to its provision of recreation services, namely the most of the unique assets of Manitouwadge a small and shrinking residential population to revitalize the community. This Recreation, and tax-base, an insufficient commercial and Parks and Facilities Master Plan aligns with and industrial tax base, and as a result, an over- supports other recent projects in the Township reliance on grant funding for investments in to promote recreation and tourism, and as such recreation. will play an important role in guiding the future of Manitouwadge.