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Dude, where's my rec centre?

Klondike MLA Sandy Silver wants a new recreation centre in Dawson City. Pronto.

Klondike MLA Sandy Silver wants a new recreation centre in Dawson City. Pronto.

The newly elected Liberal MLA asked Community Services Minister Elaine Taylor why the government hadn’t gotten a jump on the project.

After all, he noted, the Yukon Party promised during the recent election to

“invest in the improvements to recreation infrastructure in Dawson City.”

Taylor deflected the question, noting that the territory has agreed to spend $4 million since 2009 on upgrades to Dawson’s existing facility.

But the existing centre “shouldn’t have been built where it is built, and was fundamentally flawed from the beginning,” said Silver.

Last year, a geotechnical inspection found the facility sits on melting permafrost. This wobbly foundation helps explain why the building’s rafters have warped in recent years.

Silver had hoped to see a line item for the new facility in the government’s recently tabled supplementary budget. But it would have been unusual for the territory to add a new project mid-year.

More likely, the project will be touted in the spring. That’s the start of the next fiscal year.