Recreation summit draws full house
A full house of stakeholders and community leaders were on hand to help the Kahnawake Recreation Steering Committee (KRSC) form the beginning of a ten-year Recreation Master Plan for the community last Thursday at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
Participants spent the day working in breakout groups to help the KRSC identify the community’s resources, its priorities and what might be missing in Kahnawake’s recreation offerings, KRSC co-chair Roiatate Horn said.
“What we want is to get the community to tell us what they want to see more of,” Horn, who is also the Director of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Sports and Recreation Unit, said. “Today is for sharing. We have gathered as many stakeholders as possible from different places to get as wide a picture as possible about what we’d like to see.”
One of the main topics of conversation was the Kahnawake Youth Center’s existing facility.
“We are at 250-percent capacity for some programs and we are running out of space in the building,” KRSC co-chair and KYC Executive Director Kyle Zacharie said. “We have had a 561-percent increase in attendance at our fitness classes. We have had 184-percent attendance at our weight room since 2022. We are running out of room and we have nowhere else to go.”
Part of the KRSC’s mandate is to identify whether the KYC needs a new building, or, whether it would be possible to renovate the existing facility to fit the KYC’s growing needs.
“At this point the sky is the limit,” Zacharie said. “We are going into this summit with no set outcomes in mind, just a real and honest objective of finding out what the community wants. We have brought together representation from as many groups as possible to ensure their needs are being met, no matter the individual.”
Consulting firm BC2 has been hired to help compile information, survey the community and help formulate the 10-year Recreation Master Plan. The KRSC said they expect a report from the firm on the community’s recreation offerings by next June. From there, officials said, they will be able to start putting together a plan for the next decade immediately.
“What do you want more of?“ Zacharie asked. “Do we want more field sports? More weight room activities. We want to hear about all the things the community is hoping to see. For instance, I would love to see some kind of aquatics facility here in the community, or a fieldhouse, which is also a major priority for us. For us, it’s about people in the community. Whether you’re five years old or 84 years old, we want to know what you’d like to see.”
The summit was merely the kickoff of consultations, Horn said.
“We are embarking on a new direction and creating a road map for the next ten years, so we want to hear form the community. We want to know what the community wants to see for playgrounds, parks and leisure. We are looking forward today,” he said.
BC2 will be holding consultations in the community for the next 11 months.
“People have to tell us what they want and how they want it,” Horn said. “We want to get the community’s input.”
KYC Program Manager Wahsontiio Montour said getting the community’s input of the utmost importance.
“It’s so important,” she said. “As we build and expand our recreation offerings, we want the community to have a say, and what better way to do that?”
Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase
