THUNDER BAY -- The city's upcoming recreation and facilities master plan needs to be homegrown.
Johnathan Hack, a director with Sierra Planning and Management and overseeing the city's $300,000 plan, said the city needs to hear from the public on everything from what services they use to what improvements need to be made.
Called Fit Together, the plan will guide the city's recreation planning for the next 15 years.
"With these plans, a lot of these ideas are homegrown. It's not about consultants coming in and providing outside solutions," he said.
On Wednesday at the Oliver Road Community Centre around 30 people got their chance to take part in the first of three public meetings on the plan. Hack said so far they've been busy getting an inventory of what facilities, services and programs are out there in the city.
"There's nothing to report by way of results of the study. This is part of the process of gathering information," he said.
Thunder Bay Community Tennis Centre head pro Jamie Grieve said his organization's homegrown idea is to build a year-round facility at Chapples Park, which would feature everything from tennis and squash courts to ping pong tables.
"The city has been pretty positive with it," he said of the idea.
"We understand this is a big project and they're looking at it seriously."
Corporate project manager Lou Morrow said the plan should head to council and, if approved, start making its way into next year's budget.
he city also has an online survey for the plan.
