The grand opening of Owen Sound’s Regional Rec Centre next spring could have a royal presence.
Council is going to send an invite to Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to attend the Rec Centre’s grand opening in May.
The Royal couple will already be in Ontario in May as part of their Canadian tour.
Councillor Jim McManaman admits it’s a long shot but you never get what you don’t ask for.
McManaman says it would actually be appropriate for the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to visit because the rec centre is being built at Victoria Park.
It was a plot of land given to Owen Sound by the prince’s great great great grandmother and named in her honour.
As well, the occasion of the royal tour is to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The last British monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee, or 60 years on the throne? Queen Victoria.
It was announced last week that Charles and Camilla would be visiting Ontario,
Saskatchewan and New Brunswick as part of the jubilee celebrations.
A detailed itinerary has not been released, so there is hope that Owen Sound can be slotted in.
Owen Sound has been the site of one royal visit in the past. Charles’ younger sister, Princess Anne, came to the city in November 1979.
Anne is the colonel-in-chief of the Grey and Simcoe Foresters and she visited the regiment at the Tommy Holmes Armoury — coincidentally located right next door to Victoria Park and the soon-to-be-completed rec centre.
