A resort town and so much more: Saint Andrews wants residents to enjoy all 4 seasons

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 06, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Saint Andrews is moving to create more year-round opportunities for recreation successful the picturesque municipality that is astir wholly surrounded by the ocean.

The tiny assemblage successful confederate New Brunswick, with a population of 3,270 people, describes itself arsenic "New Brunswick's signature edifice community," but it besides caters those who unrecorded full-time successful the community..  

Paul Nopper, elder head and municipality clerk, said that the new assemblage programs they person already implemented, specified as music successful the park, summertime time camps and after-school hockey, person received an "amazing effect from our community."

Residents would similar to spot safer connections to the Van Horne Trail for cyclists, which presently crosses 2 streets, and the enlargement of programs implicit each 4 seasons, helium said. In addition, they privation to grow the usage of existing spaces. 

"They privation america to look astatine what we tin bash with our unfastened spaces," Nopper said, to "enhance them and amended them not conscionable for recreation but besides for things similar pollinator gardens and acquisition and learning."

Part of this program volition beryllium broadening entree to nationalist spaces to alteration much radical to marque usage of them. In this regard, Nopper said that "one of the newest programs we person is really re-utilizing our younker centre for senior programs successful the morning."

Nopper besides said that radical person been calling for an indoor fittingness centre for years but erstwhile the municipality received a assistance to physique it, COVID-19 was successful afloat plaything truthful "it conscionable wasn't garnering interest." As a result, the municipality "actually built an outdoor recreation abstraction with it."

The caller outdoor parkland is located beside 1 of the entree points to the Van Horne Trail and "contains 8 outdoor workout stations for each ages and abilities," Nopper said. 

In addition, the assemblage is readying to grow definite services and facilities, specified arsenic the Arena Canteen, "that are underutilized astatine antithetic times of the twelvemonth and marque them much progressive for the community," Nopper said.

"In past years, the municipality was big to the larger conferences and firm events astatine the arena but that has not been the lawsuit successful the past decade," helium said.

"If we tin pull much concerts, conferences, oregon lawsuit different programs similar shot hockey, lacrosse, etc., it volition marque our facilities much viable and enactment the wide community."

Two years agone the municipality hired a recreation manager to spearhead its rec plan. Merven Hanselpacker said that processing much activities for section residents is the main absorption of the program but that the projects volition besides beryllium beneficial to visitors. 

There person been several open-house events accusation is being gathered from residents to make a 10-year roadworthy map, a draught of which should beryllium ready by the extremity of May, helium said.