Ingersoll’s MURC finding request not approved by province

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

“Shocked, to say the least.”

Those were the words Ingersoll Mayor Brian Petrie used to describe the town’s unsuccessful funding application. The town sent out a news release Wednesday morning to inform the public and the media.

“The Town of Ingersoll expresses its deep disappointment following the Ministry of Sport’s decision not to approve the town’s application to the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund,” said the release.

The money was requested for the town’s Multi-Use Recreational Centre, expected to break ground next spring.

“It’s extremely disappointing and sad that the province failed to see what this funding and project mean to our community and our partners,” said Mayor Brian Petrie, emphasizing the significant impact the funding would have had on advancing local, regional and provincial goals.

Petrie said the town received a form letter from the province regarding the bad news, but no explanation was provided.

“It’s frustrating because we brought so much to the table as far as collaboration to the whole project. It’s really hard to understand how we didn’t meet the threshold to receive any funding whatsoever. I know there were a lot of applications out there.”

The government received $1.2 billion in funding requests for a $200 million fund. Ingersoll had asked for $10 million.

“To receive zero is a real kick, and there is no appeal process,” he added.

The Town of Ingersoll has actively collaborated with various partners to advance several local and provincial priorities through the Multi-Use Recreational Centre property project, including recreation, education, long-term care, emergency management, and, critically, up to 1000 housing units.

The town remains committed to advocating for the MURC project and will continue to educate provincial representatives on the extensive benefits of the project and encourage them to explore alternative funding sources to maximize the property’s potential impact for the community, wider region and the province.

The town is reviewing what the decision will mean for the overall project.

“We’re going to move forward. Staff are what this means as far as the timeline and scope, but it’s the overall property project that’s going to be affected,” explained Petrie. “We are trying to get some innovative things done with housing and we have to sell land to be able to pay for a portion of the arena. Without that funding, it’s hard to subsidize that land to get the kind of houses we really want.”   

The project is well into its design phase and the town has hired a project management firm. Petrie is encouraging Ingersoll ratepayers to contact Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman and Neil Lumsden, Minister of Sport, to voice their displeasure.

“I invite every resident to join me in sharing their disappointment with the province by contacting them and sharing what this decision means for our community,” added Petrie. “We are looking for other ways to get some funding and get the province to the table. With all the great things happening at that property I can’t see why they wouldn’t want to be a part of that collaborative nature.”