Arena contract iced early

By Natalie Bank Wednesday, August 29, 2007 http://www.dailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=61917

The same staff will be taking care of Vernon‘s ice rinks this winter, but under a different employer. On Wednesday the North Okanagan Regional District announced its contract with Canadian Recreation Excellence Corporation has been terminated early. In 2003 the private company began operating public facilities in the area, but last winter residents voiced concerns over the poor shape of local arenas and expressed a desire to bring them back under public control. In January NORD staff met and agreed running recreation in-house might be better, said Al McNiven, director of parks, recreation and culture for Greater Vernon Services. “They just felt it was much easier for them to respond to community concerns and suggestions.” The RDNO then decided to cancel its contract with Recreation Excellence at the end of 2007, but McNiven said the two groups mutually agreed to terminate the agreement early. “We thought it might be better to do it now rather than in the middle of the ice season.”
Starting Sept. 1, RDNO will be responsible for the management and operation of the facilities. Part of the new agreement with Recreation Excellence is that all its staff can keep their jobs. McNiven said the district will do their best to make sure the transition this September is seamless. “We hope it goes very smoothly, however I expect that in the next week or two we might find a few things aren‘t covered and we‘ll take care of it right away.”