Centre 78 is GOOD for our Community

(Page 10, con't Page 11)

By Tanya Thibodeau, Publisher
Up until now I have maintained an extremely neutral position on the subject of Centre 78. However, due to the repeated actions of certain individuals I am simply no longer able to remain neutral or to hold my tongue. I know that my public declaration of support to Centre 78 and this article are going to upset several individuals and because of my natural tendency to “keep the peace” part of me wants to apologize to those individuals. However, when push comes to shove – what these individuals are doing is so unbelievably wrong and I cannot sit on the sidelines and watch an unchecked, unfounded attack take place against one of the best projects that has ever been proposed for our communities.
I ask the residents of our communities to stop and think before they start agreeing with every piece of hearsay gossip they are presented with, despite who that information may be coming from. No matter how you look at it, a group of less than about a dozen individuals are spreading incorrect information around and it's not fair. I present to you here the results of my research – this research did not include listening to any biased information from specific individuals – it was done completely online, therefore if I can find it so can you. If you know me and trust me then I'm honoured to have you place your faith in the research I have done. If you're not so sure, then please do the research for yourself before jumping on a run-away train.
But either way ask yourself this – what could I possibly have to gain by asking you to make informed decisions and by aligning myself and my business with Centre 78? I have no invested interest. I am not personal friends or a relative of any of the founders of Centre 78. I have simply done my research and wholly believe in this project and what it stands for.
Let's face it, if I was wrong about the integrity and intent of Centre 78 I would be putting my business at risk of major losses by aligning with them and publically supporting them. As a business owner, I am certainly not about to do that and I believe in this project so much that I do not see that as a risk at all. I know that if you do the research for yourself as I have, that you too will see all the many and wonderful benefits this project has to offer our community, our residents, our seniors, our kids, our businesses. Your research will also find irrefutable proof against the incorrect information that is being spread.
Centre 78 is GOOD for all of this area and Black Diamond should be honoured and thrilled that they have the opportunity to be the home community for it.
All of the details are readily available between the Centre 78 and Town of Black Diamond websites: www.centre78.ca and www.town.blackdiamond.ab.ca. Yes it is a lot of information to read and yes a lot of it is rather dry reading – but THIS information is the truth, it is the reality. Furthermore, Centre 78 now has an active Page on Facebook to encourage feedback and discussion. If you have a question – post it on the Centre 78 Facebook Page. This is the most central way for interactive information to be made available.
I am notorious for writing articles that are extremely long – especially when it's on a topic that I'm passionate about. The problem is that so many people won't take the time to READ things of great detail.  So I'm stuck here, because if I write the level of detail that is truly needed, it probably won't get read. Truth requires detail – lies do not. But without the detail people claim that they are not being given the facts. In reality they are being given the facts, what may be missing is the background to support those facts – but the background IS available if people would just take the time to do the research and get involved. The facts are:
- Centre 78 will not increase taxes;
- Centre 78 will increase revenue for the town as a whole (by paying commercial taxes and giving the public more reasons to spend their dollars in our communities);
- The current proposed location for Centre 78 will alleviate parking issues on 3rd Street for the arena, schools and curling rink functions;
- The Legion is a potential TENANT to the Centre 78 project, not the owner and will only occupy about 25% of the entire building;
- Centre 78 will not be turning to the Town of Black Diamond for any cash injections;
- The Business Plan that was available in April 2010 WAS emailed to everyone who gave their email address to Pam Jones (like they were asked to do) at the Open House – if they claim they didn't get it at that time, why didn't they follow up on it back then?;
- A Business Plan is NOT a static document, especially when promises of land and agreements of tenancy are broken that force a change in the financial structure;
- Three years of planning, research and meetings hardly constitutes “rushing” into anything;
- There were only two possible land parcels that the Town of Black Diamond COULD consider providing for this project and one of them cannot be built on, so what exactly should the Town have taken longer than 6 months to think about?
- Another local project (who is vocally opposing this building site) claims that “This is not the way to build consensus!” Yet this same project broke ground and commenced building prior to obtaining all of the necessary documentation – who was rushing?
- Donating a land LEASE to Centre 78 is not setting precedents for any organizations – those organizations who are in need of a new home are invited to join Centre 78 – it is a MULTI-USE Community Centre, the idea is for multiple groups to work together to REDUCE expenses for each individual group.
Allegedly “There are many questions to be answered.” But in reality all of the past questions have been answered for anyone who is willing to take the time to RESEARCH and READ. The VOLUNTEERS who are working so hard to make Centre 78 a reality are hard working people with jobs and families and several other community based endeavours. These are people who do not have time to repeatedly answer the same questions over and over and over only to have those answers fall on deaf ears. Have you ever tried to hold a conversation with someone who plugs their ears and sings “la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” while you're trying to speak?
This article presents the facts, but space does not permit it to present the background behind those facts. So if you are truly interested in knowing the details behind these facts then please take the time to do the research. If reading through pages of documents online is too time consuming, then post specific questions on the Centre 78 Facebook page and they will get addressed so that everyone will have central access to the information.

Centre 78 wants to communicate openly with everyone but it has become apparent that verbal communication is not heard and written communication is not read. So what other options are there?
The other problem is that people in general who believe that an idea or cause is a good thing most often don't get overly vocal about it. It is almost always a small handful of people who actively support a project and a small handful of people who actively oppose a project. Unfortunately, it is usually those who oppose it that scream the loudest, while those who support it silently pray for a miracle that maybe the trouble makers will go away. They don't get vocal about defending what they believe in because they won't do battle with narrow-mindedness.
I implore the public at large to get vocal in their support, as I am. I am staking my personal & professional reputation on this project because it is the right thing to do. I have so much more to say on this subject, therefore I am posting even more details, facts, proof and opinions on the Centre 78 Facebook Page. Please join me on Facebook, express your thoughts, opinions and concerns. EVERY concern is valid – but be a part of the SOLUTION, help determine how we can address each and every valid concern so that it is no longer a concern. There is a positive solution to every problem, it simply takes people willing to put their minds to it to resolve them.
People need to under-stand the vast BENEFITS a Multi-use Community Centre of this caliber will have for our communities. People need to openly and constructively discuss any concerns that may exist. People need to brainstorm and determine what the best solution to concerns would be.
Please do not allow literally a handful of people to block the progress of a project that will benefit thousands of people. Black Diamond population 2,000+/-, more than 1,600+/- of which are over the age of 19. Turner Valley population 2,000+/-, more than 1,500+/- of which are over the age of 19. That's more than 3,000 adults and nearly 1,000 youth – this does not consider the surrounding MD resi-dents, Longview residents and Millarville residents who will also benefit. Is it really fair for less than 12 people to take that benefit away from so many thousands?
The damned of it is that these same individuals do have some valid questions - what I don’t understand is why they are bent on being negative and BLOCKING something so good instead of helping to determine viable solutions to their concerns. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I revisit this question, the only answer I can come up with is that it must be linked in someway to a personal vendetta. Well I can’t bear the thought of our communities and my children losing out over such pettiness.
Please join me in vocal support of Centre 78!
- Engage in discussion on Facebook;
- Attend the Town of Black Diamond Public Hearing;
Get Involved; Get The Facts; Participate!