Woodstock: Setting their ‘sites’ on quality of life

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Economic development takes much more than just having shovel-ready land.

During the rigorous site-selection process, companies scrutinize dozens of factors. There’s always a long list of needs from prospective new businesses, touching on everything from a reliable local workforce to economic incentives. As a potential new corporate citizen goes through its lengthy checklist, data is analyzed and visits are arranged.

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It can get a little complicated.

But one of the factors that’s among the most critical — but often doesn’t get the attention it deserves — is simply what that community can offer in terms of, well, community. As most seasoned economic developers will tell you, it’s not strictly the professional that draws employers, employees and their families to a city. When looking at a potential site, businesses are also looking at what the city can offer in terms of amenities for its workforce.

And it’s a factor that Woodstock’s economic development department has made part of its own pitch to help build and diversify the growing local economy.

While not at the very top of the list, having these amenities is still crucial to welcoming new business, Woodstock economic development officer Brad Hammond said.

“If you’re attracting people, (they) have certain expectations of what should be in a city,” Hammond said. “That includes recreation assets, transit, retail and those sorts of things.”

Since employers can often live or work near Woodstock with their own families, they recognize the importance of having these local services and activities to help strike a work-life balance for themselves and their staff.

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“They want their employees to have a full life and have everything that they need close by to where they work,” Hammond said.

With that in mind, the city has made expanding its recreational offerings a priority in recent years. It’s a decision that serves both its existing residents while appealing to potential investors considering Woodstock as home.

It’s also part of the rationale for the city’s exploration of an expansive new recreation centre to support Woodstock’s growing population. In the works for some years now, it’s become an important project for the Friendly City.

One of the canaries in the proverbial coal mine for Canadian cities when it comes to this kind of growth, Woodstock’s parks and recreation director Brian Connors said, is simply a shortage of prime ice time.

“(It’s) an important indicator of when you need to grow,” he said.

He also cited an aging ice hockey arena near the city fairgrounds — the 1970-built Civic Centre –- as part of the reason to eye a new facility.

The project began in earnest in 2021 when a needs study identified a growing demand for more indoor recreational facilities.

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“(The study was) showing a lot of needs for ice, (pools), gyms, that type of thing,” Connors said. “So we went into a little bit more detail with the consultant group, and they came out with the North Woodstock Recreation Feasibility Study.”

A story published in the Sentinel-Review in November, “Woodstock surveys residents on possible $100 million recreation centre,” detailed the city’s plan to garner resident feedback for a potential new recreational facility.

The survey for the potential facility — planned near a number of growing neighbourhoods in the city’s northeast — gave residents options on what could be included. The survey mentioned features such as a gymnasium, ice rinks, a curling club and a swimming pool in a facility that could reach 13,500 square metres, more than twice the size of a football field.

As the headline noted, this recreation centre would cost as much as $100 million if all these features were included.

The survey, released earlier this year, which specifically asked residents what they wanted included in this potential facility, will wrap up later this month, Connors noted.

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“With the population growth, and with where we are as far as how full the buildings are, we are in need,” Connors said.

The final design, though, will need to find the right balance between the most-requested features and the considerable cost.

But as the city grows, it’s not just Woodstock’s economic base that’s diversifying.

City officials also recognize the need to diversify its recreational and cultural offerings as the city draws new residents from elsewhere.

While Woodstock is planning to build more traditional recreational facilities, such as new tennis and basketball courts in Cowan Fields, a park complex in the city’s northeast, the city is also keeping pace with trending sports by installing eight pickleball courts.

Connors said there’s even a large cricket pitch set to be built at Cowan Fields that should be finished this year. He said the 2021 study identified a need.

“We do have a large population of folks that are quite new to Woodstock but are avid cricket players,” Connors said. “I’m actually looking at the number of clubs that are asking to get affiliate status, and it’s grown exponentially for cricket.

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“Having good recreation facilities, good parks and playgrounds and trail systems are all part of quality of life. That’s going to be a factor if someone has a job in Woodstock (and) their decision to be a resident of Woodstock or commute.”

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

Over five weeks we are chronicling our community’s place in the country, the promise of greater prosperity, and the blueprint to get there. See the How Canada Wins series intro and other local stories here. 

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