Edmonton selling the naming rights of Clareview Recreation Centre

Edmonton is moving forward with selling the naming rights of the Clareview Recreation Centre.

City councillors voted eight to five in favour of renaming the north Edmonton centre the Jumpstart Recreation Centre at Clareview, along with a sponsorship agreement from the Canadian Tire backed charity to help low-income youth access sport.

“This is not something I would normally contemplate or entertain,” said Ward Dene councillor Aaron Paquette told council Monday. “However, there have been letters of support from the community and local sports organizations.”

Councilor @AaronWardDene says he normally wouldn't support something like this, but because of the support from the community "the case makes sense as a sort of a pilot"

— Carly Robinson (@CarlyDRobinson) October 3, 2022

Free Play for Kids is one of the groups that has been in favour of the agreement, hoping it will help with a longstanding issue facing city facilities.

“It’s really challenging to find an affordable space, inclusive space, accessible space,” says Free Play executive director Tim Adams.

He says this agreement with JumpStart helps address some of the issues his non-profit — which provides subsidized after-school sports to at-need youth — which has had difficulties when it comes to booking space.

“If you got the space 10 years ago, and you wanted to use the space, you get to keep it. And newer groups who were struggling to serve in the space, struggle to get it.”

RELATED: Edmonton could sell naming rights for Clareview Rec Centre

The president of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities says this is part of the reason they applied for the naming rights.

“We’re really focused on what we can do in the centre for the broader community, particularly those who don’t have regular access to sport, physical activity,” Marco Dibuno told CityNews the week before the decision went before council.

The agreements for sponsorship of sports begin right away, with the official name change to the Jumpstart Recreation Centre in Clareview coming in spring 2023.

“We always value the work inside the building more than the fact that the name was going to be on the outside of the building,” says Dibuno.

The exact financials of the deal are not public, but the city started exploring the idea during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when revenue fell.

“What we are talking about here is really not a lot of money,” said Ward papastew councillor Michael Janz.

The city has previously said Clareview is one of five rec centres with proposed naming rights sold, with the potential for just $450,000 in revenue annually.

“What we are looking at is a rounding error in the grand scheme of the budget,” says Janz, one of five councillors to vote against the motion. “That’s really concerning to me.”

For Tim Cartmell, the Ward pihêsiwin councillor believes the community is supportive of this name change because of the work already done by JumpStart charities in the neighbourhood.

The Jumpstart Inclusive Playground sits behind the Clareview Rec Centre, and the charity provided the majority of funding for the equipment.

-With files from Laura Krause