Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Renovation work to Jasper’s recreation centres is well underway.
A site tour of the arena and curling rink slab replacement projects on Oct. 5 showed the detailed work being done to upgrade the facilities.
If all goes to plan, the project is expected to be complete with ice ready for play by Dec. 1, subject to operating budget approval by Jasper Municipal Council.
Gordon Hutton, buildings and asset manager for the Municipality of Jasper, Michael Steffler, WSP senior project manager and Wayne Hansen, superintendent of Prologic Construction Ltd., walked town council members and other stakeholders through the curling rink project first, as cooling lines were being installed, then the arena.
"The project is going along very well," Hutton said. "I'm very happy with the quality of work and the people doing it, and the coordination with the municipality."
Demolition of the curling club slab, arena slab and boards was the first stage of the project, done while the facility was closed. New slabs and boards were added through the summer.
And a new building has been set up on the corner of Bonhomme and Pyramid Lake Road ready for a new ice plant to be installed there next spring.
Along with replacement of fundamental equipment, heat lines were added in the curling rink. That will help alleviate problems that have occurred in the past with frost heaves, which created uneven surfaces.
Heat lines were already in place in the arena but were upgraded as part of the current project.
In a report to council on Sept.15, Hutton called Prologic an “exemplary contractor who works seamlessly with municipal staff and facility requirements”, and noted the information flow among the project team is prompt and professional and unexpected site conditions have been easily accommodated. He said the worksites are kept clean and organized.
"They modified their schedule to handle the unknown site conditions," Hutton said.
The new total capital budget, approved by council, is $2,705,255 for the replacement of the Activity Centre’s curling slab, arena slab and arena boards, Christine Nadon, legislative services manager confirmed.
The contract awarded to Prologic Construction Ltd in May was for $2.1 million. That, plus project management fees from WSP, and a $313,000 contingency took the original $2.2 million budget over by $575,000 to $2.7 million. But no overspends have been reported.
Nadon noted the curling rink slab, arena slab and boards, and ammonia plant were all at the end of their service life and overdue for replacement.
The project is mostly funded by debenture with payments beginning in 2022 for 15 years. It will also receive part of the $3.66 million grant awarded to the municipality by the ICIP for recreation facility renovations and upgrades.
The new ammonia plant, separate from the $2.7 million budget, will be under construction through the rest of 2020. It's located outside the arena at the corner of Pyramid and Bonhomme. Completion is slated for the spring of 2021, for testing and preparation for service to begin in the summer of 2021.
