A Prince George fitness coach has launched an online petition calling on the city to back away from a plan to limit public access to Masich Place Stadium once it's been reopened and instead keep the facility open from dawn until dusk.
"It just irritated me," said Katie Paolucci when asked what prompted her to take the step. "I was going to start taking my morning bootcamp over there and I was talking to someone at the Y and they said 'no, you won't be able to do that.'"
Found at causes.com, the petition drew more than 100 names in less than 24 hours.
As it stands, Masich Place will be open to the public from early in the morning to early in the afternoon but closed to everyone but user groups beyond that time. Staff will be on hand whenever the stadium is in use.
Concern about vandalism is the main reason purported for the move, although critics say that kind of trouble happens at night when nobody is around and it's just a matter of hopping the chain-link fence to get in.
Set to reopen in early August, the facility has been closed for 14 months and has gone through a $4.8-million renovation centred on installation of a new track and an outdoor synthetic field suitable for football and soccer.
It will also feature a consolidated jumps area, a permanent throwing facilities and cages and other upgrades such as trail development. The exterior of the grandstand was also repainted.
In the past, the facility has been busy in the evenings as well as the morning, according to Paolucci.
"You get old people down there, you get handicapped people, you get families down there and it's free exercise that's accessible to everybody and they're taking that away," she said. "They're trying to encourage healthy living in Prince George but they're taking things away."
She said the track is particularly well-suited to people with mobility troubles.
"If you already have joint issues and such, to walk on concrete isn't good, to walk on an uneven trail isn't good," she said. "To walk the trail system, there are animals and there are off-leash dogs and if if you're blind, you're certainly not going to use those trails whereas with any sort of disability you have, you can use that track."
Coun. Brian Skakun is among those who has signed the petition.
"People love that facility and we've spent a lot of money on it and they want access to it," he said.
Skakun caught some heat for saying on his Facebook page that as an elected official he can't change policy but can pass the message on to city staff that people are not happy with the plan. In an interview Monday, Skakun said he meant to say he can't effect change on his own and that it would require a majority vote of council.
Mayor Lyn Hall said a report from staff providing further detail on what's planned will be part of the agenda for council's regular meeting on Monday.
"I think it'll shed more light on what staff is considering and it'll give council an opportunity to weigh in and make comment regarding that," Hall said.
