Update on new city arena coming to council

The new Community and Recreation Centre, to be located adjacent to Omischl Sports Complex to replace the West Ferris Community Centre, will be the subject of a special meeting of council Tuesday, June 23 at 5:30.

Two public information sessions had been scheduled because of broad public interest. The first was completed in January but challenges brought on by the COVID-19 situation mean the second public session on the project will be done through the internet.

See: New arena project up in the air due to COVID-19?

And: Staff report recommends Omischl as the replacement location for the West Ferris Arena

And: New arena project draws architectural and engineering firms' interest

The construction schedule has taken a hit.

Before the COVID crisis hit, Johanne Brousseau chair of council’s community services committee. told BayToday, “Originally, I was told that it was going to be in the spring that we would start construction, but now it is more realistic that it will be in the fall of 2020. We will hopefully drop the puck in 2022.”

Council will likely have a firmer schedule at the special meeting.

"Stakeholders representing user groups will be updated the week of June 22," says a staff report from John Severino, City Engineer – Infrastructure & Operations.

"The presentation at the Special Committee Meeting of Council will be posted on City’s website to allow interested members of the public unable to view the scheduled Special Committee Meeting of Council to be informed. The presentation will provide Council and the public an update of the Community and Recreation Centre project. It will include design renderings of the Community Centre, discussion of the integration of the functional programming into the detailed design, a schedule update, and current cost estimates."

The last figure being used was $30 million.