It is with heavy hearts that we tell you that the Bowmore/Fairmount Park Community Centre is one of the 12 facilities targeted by Toronto's Budget Committee for program elimination, along with eliminating another neighbourhood pool (at Duke of Connaught).
Read Dec 2 Toronto Star story
All recreation programs at Fairmount, including the extremely popular ballet, martial arts, arts & fitness programs, along with other enrichment opportunities for our families, will be eliminated if the Budget Committee approves the plan. Budget planning meetings are being held all next week, with public hearings on December 7-8.
Also deeply worrying: While our pool is not on the list of seven that will be immediately axed, it is hard to imagine sustainable pool programming (staff hours etc) if all other programs are removed.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Speak up.
Many of you signed the petition last June, and sent us your heartfelt testimonials. We will ensure our councillor uses them when speaking at the budget meeting. If you have not yet submitted your testimonial stating why the pool and Parks & Rec programming is important, please email one to us immediately. We will gather and forward all testimonials (past & present) to the Budget Committee and cc Councillor McMahon, Chris Spence, Sheila Cary-Meagher, TDSB and other relevant players on your behalf. Let's tell them that jeopardizing our children's health and safety by eliminating sports, recreation and swim literacy programs is not the way to cut costs!
Attend the public hearings December 7-8
Bowmore parents should register to depute at the Budget Committee on December 7/8. To register call or email the Budget Committee rep, Merle MacDonald, at buc@toronto.ca or 416-392-7340. City Council committee agendas can be viewed at: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyList.do?function=prepareDisplayDBList . If you do plan to depute, please let us know so we can strategize around messaging from Ward 32.
Use it or lose it!
TOMORROW IS THE REGISTRATION OPENING FOR RECREATION & SWIM PROGRAMS (see below). If you cherish our community centre, please take time to review and make use of the many programs available to us in our neighbourhood.
Spread the word
Help us distribute flyers, and tell everyone in our neighbourhood about this threat to our community.
We are working with our city councillor to plan our community reponse to this threat. We will keep you informed as we learn more. Please let us know by email if you can help distribute flyers and help us find other ways to spread the word. Without delay, we must let the city and Budget Committee know how much our community values this vital neighbourhood asset.
About the Fairmount/Bowmore Pool Committee: Formed in June 2010, our goal is to keep our community centre thriving. We have been collecting petitions, writing testimonials and securing media coverage. We maintain an open communication channel with all concerned parents, Councillor Mary Margaret McMahon, and Trustee Sheila Cary Meagher. If you can help, please contact us via email.
Parks & Recreation Winter Registration Deadline - Tomorrow!
A reminder - registration for Winter Skating & Swimming lessons and March Break Camps start December 3rd! Browse program offerings and register online here.
Aside from a VERY busy swimming program, Fairmount offers Arts, Fitness & Wellness and Sports programs. These include:
For Children
-Arts & Crafts
-Ballet
-Guitar
-Preschool Music
-Floor Hockey
-Martial Arts
-Soccer
-Preschool Sports
For Adults
-Fitness/Cardio
-Pilates
-Tai Chi
-Yoga
All the programs for Fairmount are listed here. Get familiar with the wonderful programming available to our families, and make use of this important community asset, while we still have it!
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