In South-West Edmonton there is a brand spankin' new recreation centre, complete with three huge gymnasiums (that can be converted into 12 full-sized basketball courts or more than 25 volleyball courts) as well as a gymnastics centre. In total it is 236,000 sqft, making it the largest hard-wood installation in all of North America.

This state-of-the-art new facility, known as the Go Centre, was built for a meagre $38 million dollars and it came in on-time and on-budget.

Compare that to the new South-West Recreation Centre built by the City of Edmonton where costs are pegged at roughly $205 million and grew substantially during the project.

The Go Centre was the brain child of basketball nut and local businessman, David Dorward. Over most of the past decade David has been scheming, planning and telling anyone who will listen about his vision for a huge multi-use facility.

But David didn't just go to city council and tell them that they need to pony up the cash and build this facility, nor did he pitch higher taxes or more taxing powers to pay for a new rec centre. He went out and put together a team of people passionate about the project and made it happen as a P3 (public-private partnership).

His committee convinced the federal government to kick in $14.8 million, the province $10 million and the city a mere $9 million.  He then found a partner in the University of Alberta, who donated five acres of prime land next to a light-rail stop and attached to an existing recreation complex.  For their donation, which David pegs at a minimum of $15 million (mostly in-kind), the University gets the facility during the day and for varsity games in the evening.  The facility is 90% community use after 4pm.  The Go Centre also registered as a charity and found nearly $5 million in private donations from individuals, businesses and community partners.

Not all P3s are great deals for taxpayers, but this one clearly was.  It cost a fraction of what it would had the city took the lead on the project and it came in on-budget and on-time - again, something that is unheard of for most civic infrastructure projects.

David credits his dedicated board of volunteers who created a nimble, low-red tape environment where they told builders and designers that they had a maximum budget and wanted to know what could be built for that much.  When told then had to add this or add that to the design, they encouraged the person to join the board and help fundraise the extra money needed for the additional amenity.

This type of accountability and ability to negotiate like it was your own private business is missing at many levels of government.

Hopefully in the future, governments and proponents of these types of facilities across the country look to this type of model for future cultural or recreational facilities.