Reduced public access to Masich Place Stadium draws the ire of city councillor

Prince George City Councillor Brian Skakun is one of many who are opposed to the reduced public access to Masich Place Stadium when it re-opens next month.

As it stands right now, the city says Masich Place will be open to the public early in the morning until early in the afternoon but closed to everyone except user groups after that.

Before the renovations began last year, the facility was open for public use from dawn until dusk, which Skakun says should be the case once again.

“People are concerned that we spent nearly five million dollars on this track, they want access to it like it was before and the community is getting vocal on this and I think that’s incredible.”

One of the main reasons for the access reduction is mainly due to vandalism concerns.

Skakun says if the city is so worried about vandalism they should go back to the dawn until dusk hours before the renovations began.

“If you have more people there throughout the day there is going to be less opportunity for vandalism rather than reducing the number of hours and having fewer people there because if people want to get in and damage the place they can just jump over the fence so I think you’re better off having people there throughout the day and into the evening.”

A petition was launched online by local fitness coach Katie Paolucci, which garnered 100 signatures in 24 hours including Skakun’s.

A link to the petition can be found here.

The track of Masich Place is a desirable location for people with disabilities due to its flat service – Skakun adds if the hours stay the way they are it will become increasingly difficult for this demographic to access the site on a regular basis.

“People with reduced mobility might not be able to get a ride there at six in the morning or in the middle of the afternoon when people are working and as mentioned before even the shift workers are affected so my opinion is we need to have public access to this facility like we used to have.”

A report from city staff providing further detail will be part of Monday’s council meeting where this issue could get heated in a hurry.

“It looks like the city isn’t going to back down and it looks like one of us is going to have to table a motion and direct them to change the hours, we have the discretion to do that but I’m hoping we don’t have to go there.”

The meeting begins at 6PM from the council chambers.