--------------------------------------------------------- The Basilica, Recreation Centre - Before and After CHAPTER 7: BASILICA RECREATION CENTRE Matt Hagen , a retired RCMP officer, took on the monumental task of chairing the building committee. Members of the committee included J. Elmer Blanchard , D.A.S. MacDonald , Eugene Cullen , Joseph McKenna , Gerald (Jed) Maddigan, J. E. Ready, William Campbell , and me. There was a lot of discussion about the need for a new hall. When Matt Hagen and his committee were appointed to study the needs and the feasibility of financing such a building, the serious work began. Matt Hagen was an excellent choice to chair the committee. He had the leadership, administrative skills, and the patience of Job. I can recall the many long and sometimes controversial meetings. How big should the building be? How much can we afford? What organizations would be using the building? How many alleys? What size auditorium? What size kitchen would we need? Would we offer catering services? Would there be a restaurant? How many meeting rooms would we need? The list just grew and grew. Some of us felt that we should consider the needs of the whole metropolitan area when planning our new facilities. As I recall, our pastor was not too keen on that idea. It likely would have been an impossible task The first task was to meet with all the parish organizations to determine what they thought was needed in a new hall. That was a long and tedious process. Although Father Pat realized that we were due for a new facility, he was nervous about the process and often showed resistance to what we were doing. As pastor of the parish, he would ultimately be responsible for the outcome. I am sure the cost of the building was much on his mind, and he told us he would not give final approval if he thought the parish could not raise the money. Like most pastors of the time, he was always in control, and I got the impression that he felt he was losing a little of that control. We did not give serious consideration to the pool because of the cost of building and the high cost of operation. However, when that statement became public, the YMCA quickly organized a very successful fund raising effort to build a new pool. It became a very important addition to the Y , and was the only pool in the city for many years. 35