eastlink Names Oxford Community Centre

The single largest private donor — and the driving force behind the community’s new recreation centre — gives the $24.5-million facility it’s official name: The eastlink Wild Blueberry Centre.

Years in the making, Oxford’s new recreation centre is only weeks away from opening its doors to the public, followed shortly afterward by a grand opening celebration on July 18th. Hello Oxford was invited to sit down with the man behind eastlink and Oxford Frozen Foods Ltd., John Bragg, and his son Matthew, to talk about the facility.

Hello Oxford (HO): What’s the story behind the name?

John Bragg (JB): You know, we have a family foundation that has given considerable dollars to this community centre, which we think is going to be a great asset to the community. It’s funded by eastlink, which is our communication company, and the Wild Blueberry industry, which is located here. So, when it [was] decided that we could have the rights to naming and we said, well, the donation was done without any requirements, but if we have the rights, it seems to make sense that Wild Blueberry should be involved and eastlink because that’s where the bulk of the foundation money came from.

JB: eastlink, by its nature, has a big community involvement. They’re the only people that do community TV and do a lot of programming in local communities, so by their nature, they’re a community communications company and required by the CRTC to do community work, and so we’re the only ones that do it, so it’s a natural for them.

HO: Do you see yourself partaking in any of the activities at the new community centre?

JB: Well, there’s a walking track I hope to make [use of]. And we’ll have some business activities there. We have an annual dinner and we’ve had it in Springhill in the past but I think (…) it’ll be natural for us to have it this year at least in Oxford. So you know, I’m not going to spend a lot of time there but it’s a real community asset so people my age will use it as well as young people.

HO: What is the timeline for doors open and the celebration, the official opening on July 18th?

Matthew Bragg (MB): Bird is saying at some point in June. I mean it wouldn’t surprise me if they end up a few weeks behind schedule but we fully expect it to be fully functioning and open by the grand opening and maybe before that. So there’s a number of things that have to happen… 

We have new equipment for the fitness centre coming in June so that will be installed and at some point we’ll essentially move the existing 100-plus members of the fitness centre over to the new fitness centre which will expand on their experience for basically the same price and I’m awaiting the time that the gym will be open because I said well, we should have a basketball tournament! (…) so I’ve been talking to my sons and some coaches around saying (…) I’d like to have a basketball tournament with all ages so you could have a mini junior and we could call Pugwash. Somebody would have some players that would come play — just to get people in the building, and the childcare (facility) needs the space right away. They’ll move in immediately — the YMCA childcare will move in as soon as possible and they will put on programs in the summer (…) for children who are there all day for people that are working so, yeah, the sooner the better. We can hardly wait. 

HO: How are you coming along with staffing?

MB: We’ve got basically three full-time employees (and) we’ve got one of them working now on helping us and helping Bird get the building open. Things like getting all the tables and chairs and cutlery and knives and forks and spoons purchased and organized and working with the gym and equipment installation, so we’ve got people working now…

We have an IT piece which is, how do you accept money and how do you accept the booking so that’s all going to be a new software package, new to us but not new to the rec world so it’s a (…) Google package where you’ll be able to call and book a room and you’ll be able to pay via e-transfer or come in and pay with a debit card and book so that whole system isn’t in place yet. So we really have to get Bird to get the building commissioned so to speak which is make sure all the systems are working, the building’s built but now you have to commission the fire alarms and the sprinkler and the HVAC and we’re having the phone lines installed…

HO: This building is the replacement for what we lost in 2018 due to the sinkhole. You don’t really appreciate how significant the loss of a facility like that is until you’ve lived through it and Oxford has certainly suffered without the Lion’s Center. What are your hopes for this community centre?

JB: I would say that the community use it — we’ve built it, now make sure you use it. It’ll take time to get full use but but once people start using it they’ll continue to, like the track — it could be something you do every day… It’s a great, great facility and great asset to the town.

HO: This is a significant, expensive project — how confident are you in its successful operation?

MB: Well it’s structured financially and organizationally in a way that’s sustainable… What does sustainable mean? Well financially sustainable. So we all can read the papers of all the struggles that some different rinks and different rec centres have financially and with their management, so our board intends to maintain ownership and control of this.

And if we have to continue to fundraise for deficits we will. But we think we’ve structured it in a way that it’ll at least be a break even. So we put a lot of thought into the different spaces and the rental concepts to say can the building break even. In other words, we haven’t built any spaces that are unneeded or won’t be rented or very very expensive to operate…

There’s lots of debate about different things you could add but those are very expensive items and difficult to fund and maintain. So this building — we’ve spent extra money, some federal money, on solar panels so the heat and the electricity will be very efficient.

HO: What other community projects are currently underway?

JB: Well, on a smaller scale, we’ve got a program with the town to help fund (…) the facings of the buildings in town so that they look more modern and that’s not a big project.  But I would say that the project that we have in Collingwood with building a new golf course is a major project for the area. [It will] create a lot of jobs, it’ll be there forever and it’s a real legacy project for the area and, you know, you don’t sometimes think about the lasting effect of this. This is going to be a five-star resort managed by Cabot, who have a tremendous reputation throughout the world of building great golf courses and great resorts. So we’re quite excited about that. Hopefully it’ll pay its way and maybe make a little money but it’s really a big project for the area. 

HO: Do you have a timeline yet on when you expect to be teeing off?

JB: Not this summer but next summer and they tell me that they’ll have some holes ready for me to hit a golf ball on this fall. So it’s coming right along.

In the coming weeks. residents of Oxford and the surrounding area will see more funding announcements, information on programming and fees, and preparations that will lead to the July 18th grand opening celebration. Matthew Bragg says representatives of the various businesses that have donated to the project, as well as politicians from the three levels of government that have supported its development, have been invited to attend.

Donations received in the month of May, 2026:

For a full list of donations, click here (PDF 38kb) (may be incomplete)