Hello to all,
Just as a head's up to all of our guests, the announcement from Mayor Bowman about the closure of City owned and operated recreational facilities does NOT apply to Sinclair Park. We are owned by the City of Winnipeg, but independently operated, meaning we do not fall under the city-wide closure of City operated facilities. This is not something that we are choosing to ignore, we have genuinely been told to make our own decisions about whether or not to remain open.
At this point in time, the decision to remain open has been left to the Boards of Directors of each individual Community Centre. Our Board of Directors has already decided that we are going to remain open and operational for as long as we can. There may come a time when we are forced to close our doors, but it has not yet happened.
We just wanted to reach out and reassure all of our guests that there is no impact to your rentals, nor to our open gym schedule at this point in time. We cannot speak for other Community Centres. We do not know what their Boards of Directors will decide on.
We are also aware that all schools will be closed from March 23rd - April 12th. We have had a lot of parents contacting us and asking us what we plan on doing while their children are out of school, so we figured that we would make a post here for everyone to see.
- Yes! We will be open during this time. We are not 100% sure of our hours, so please check our website regularly.
- Yes! We will be running regular open gym during this time. This means basketball, and players of all ages.
- Yes! Parents are welcome to bring their children to play. Open gym is open for all ages, but please be aware that there will be adult users of the space as well.
- No! We are not running any specific programming for children at this time. It takes us months to plan things like our summer day camp, not one week. Additionally, we cannot afford to run these programs without financial grants like Canada Summer Jobs.
- No! We do not have staff on site to watch your children. Yes, we are a community centre, but a community centre is not a daycare. Our staff have a lot of other duties and tasks to carry out during this tumultuous time.
- No! Children cannot be here on their own unless they are over the age of 12. Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or a guardian who is over the age of 18.
We understand that parents need something for their children to do while they have no school. We are doing all that we can to help, but there is a limit to what we are able to accomplish on one week's notice. We appreciate your understanding.