DON STEWART: MANNING FERNIE'S INDOOR RECREATION
By Angie Abdou
December 10th, 2002
“It’s more than a stand-alone pool,” explains Don Stewart of the Fernie Aquatic Centre. “I see it as the recreational hub of our community.”
That would mean that Don Stewart is Fernie’s “President of Recreation.” His actual title, unfortunately, is less grandiose: Leisure Services Manager. Does that title fit his job description? “In a nutshell, yes. What it actually means, I don’t know. Every few months the job takes on a new direction.”
No doubt that new direction is directly related to Don’s ever-expanding vision for the centre and for Fernie’s indoor recreation. Don moved to Fernie in November of 1999 and his perception of The Fernie Aquatic Centre as a complete community centre has come closer to fruition every year.
Right now the centre is simply a pool with a multi-purpose room, but to make it a wider-reaching, community-oriented facility Don has opened up the multi-purpose room for as many organizations as possible. “We also focus all registration through this centre. We want to get people into the building so that Fernie’s citizens start viewing the Fernie Aquatic Centre as the place where you come to find out all things about recreation.”
But Don’s vision doesn’t stop there. “We’re looking five, six, seven, ten years down the road: we’re planning to incorporate the lands around the pool. The vision may be to relocate the community centre, the arena, and the curling club. We aim to create an all-in-one recreation centre.”
That’s the long-term plan. The short-term plan is equally extensive and includes: expanding into the senior market this winter; offering affordable fitness programs through the seniors’ centre; housing more after-school programs; expanding day programs for pre-schoolers; getting gymnastics, ball hockey, badminton, and basketball leagues off the ground; scheduling professional-development days; and always being open to trying new programs. “We aim to offer a good product from the get-go and improve it from there. Every year we want to get better.” Watching Don energetically move around his office as he lists new program after new program, one can’t help but think he’s just the man to bring these plans into effect.
Don originally moved to Fernie from Prince Rupert, but it wasn’t the job alone that brought him here. “Yes, my family and I moved to Fernie primarily because of the job but also because we vacationed in the Rockies every year prior to that. When the Fernie opportunity popped up I thought, rather than vacation in Jasper every year, why not live in Fernie?”
Why not indeed? Three years later he, his wife, and his two kids are still here and happily so. And, judging from Don’s “To Do List”, it looks like they plan to stay. Don is well into planning two big projects for the Fall of 2003 and the Summer of 2004. The first is a professional development program to be held at Island Lake Lodge in conjunction with the College of the Rockies—seminars for health and recreational professionals. The second is an elite-level swimming camp. When asked what he thinks will bring people to a small town like Fernie for these high-end educational opportunities, Don looks out his window at the spectacular mountain view. “Location. Location. Location. Plus, we have the high quality people we can bring in to teach those programs. It’s a winning combination.”
Considering Don’s energy and his ceaseless plans, one might expect him to say the thing he likes most about his job is the challenge or the variety. But, no, he doesn’t hesitate a fraction of a second before answering, “The people. The people in the community and the staff that works with me. That’s the best part of this job.”
“A passion for recreation” is what Don says keeps him interested in his job day after day. Of course, recreation is a passion everyone in Fernie shares. But, is it a challenge for Fernie Leisure Services to compete with the outdoor recreation? With Fernie’s biking and hiking and skiing and snow-shoeing and countless other mountain activities, is it sometimes difficult to get people into the pool facility at all? “No. Fernie is a more active community than most, and so far I haven’t found that people are so drawn to outdoor recreation that it’s difficult to draw them to indoor recreation. We simply market around key times. We don’t offer adult fitness programs, for example, when the ski hill is open. We save those for the evenings, and people use them as a supplement, as training to build fitness for skiing. Outdoor and indoor recreation end up working in conjunction.”
However, Don does admit that there are some specific challenges a ski town brings to his job. “The biggest challenge is probably the transient population we see in Fernie. It’s such a unique environment, for me at least, where we have these very highs and lows as far as population use of facilities. There’s a winter gear-up for the pool, whereas traditionally in aquatics the winter is a slow time for pools. In Fernie, we see our highest revenue possibilities occur in January and February when most pools think about shutting down. Alternatively, during the summer time, which is popular at most pools but which tends to be a lower population time for Fernie, the Aquatic Centre has been deader than a doornail. The summer season is starting to come around now though; it’s just figuring out how people use the facility. Scheduling appropriately to meet those needs is probably one of the biggest difficulties.”
Fortunately, judging by the year-round crowds of kids and the ever-growing list of programmed activities, this challenge is one that Don Stewart has well under control. Fernie’s indoor recreation is in good hands.
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