Cheer Story: Radville Makes Facility Inventories a Priority

Radville Laurier Regional Park (RLRP) participated in South East District’s 2021 Facility Inventory Champions (FIC) Program. The purpose of the program is to help groups who own recreation facilities to kick-start the asset management process by completing facility inventories. Tools, funding and training are provided as part of the program to help a local champion complete their inventories.

Aging recreation infrastructure is making it difficult to know what decisions to make for renewal, upgrades, operations, and replacement of facilities. Decision makers are not necessarily making informed decisions about infrastructure costs. Having a clearer picture of the current state of infrastructure can help communities make more informed decisions about facility operations, maintenance, and renewal.

*What is a facility inventory? The infrastructure that you own and manage is documented in a facility inventory, which is the first step to asset management. Inventories document key attributes of each asset including year of construction, type, expected useful life, structural information, building equipment model and serial numbers, photos of building components, and much more.

Radville Laurier Regional Park (RLRP) used the FIC program to create inventories for their Recreation Centre which consists of an arena, adjacent hall, kitchen and swimming pool. An Asset Management Tool was provided which helped with the collection and documentation of the inventory data. Janelle Becker, RLRP Recreation Program Coordinator, shared that a few challenges were faced in completing the inventories. Janelle explained, “One challenge was learning that our refrigeration system is obsolete, and Freon is being phased out. South East District shared a lot of resources and references to begin the steps to make this switch.”

Janelle stated that the inventory tool will be a valuable resource for many years to come. “I do think the Asset Management and Facility Inventory process is something all recreation facilities should do if they don’t already. Without the information contained within the Asset Management Tool, it would be difficult for our Recreation Board to make informed decisions regarding the replacement/repair/renovation of any area of the facility.”

“Completing the inventories was a really good way to get to know the facility and how it runs and operates… Before doing this work, I wasn't sure where some things were located. The value this project has brought to our board and the money it could save us in the future when making large decisions about renos/repairs is well worth the time. The next steps for our board are to expand and update the inventories completed and continue to complete inventories for other areas of the park, like the campground, playground and baseball diamonds, and ensure updating the Asset Management Tool is written into our policies and procedures.” Janelle has also signed up to take the Asset Management Saskatchewan online course (https://www.assetmanagementsk.ca/) to further her education on this topic.

Asset management is an important tool, as it helps municipalities maintain and operate infrastructure in the most effective way so critical services can be provided to the community. Is your community interested in facility inventories? Contact ed@southeastdistrict.ca to learn how to participate!