New Recreation Centre Project

(As of 3:40 p.m. January 25, 2021) 

Just as water, sewer, and public safety are considered essential public services, recreation is vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in a community, ensuring the health of families and youth, and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of a community and a region.

In May 2018, Council began the process of developing a design for the replacement of the existing Recreation Centre on Sherose Island (Resolutino C180504). In July 2018, SNMArchitect Limited were selected (Resolution C180612) to help develop the design and prepare the contract documents for the project. One key component of the process is the engagement of the public to understand the needs of the community in regards to the Recreation Centre. This webpage will provide a ongoing timeline of the key milestones of the project.

Project Timeline

The original timeline was intended to be 8 months but has since been paused and extended for a variety of reasons, including focusing on Arena upgrades, lack of funding and COVID-19. Here is the project timeline at this point:

  • PROJECT AWARDED : June 16, 2018
  • PROJECT KICK OFF MEETING : July 19, 2018
  • DESIGN MEETING #2 : August 23, 2018
  • DESIGN MEETING #3 : September 20, 2018
  • DESIGN MEETING #4 : November 19, 2018
  • PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT SESSION #1 : March 7 ,2019
  • PRELIMINARY DESIGN OPTIONS : July 15, 2019
  • DESIGN MEETING #5 : October 15, 2019
  • DESIGN MEETING #6 : November 27, 2019
  • REVISED DESIGN OPTIONS : February 18, 2020
  • DESIGN MEETING #7 : March 16, 2020
  • REVISED DESIGN OPTIONS : July 16, 2020
  • DESIGN CONSULTATION : Winter 2021

    TOTAL TIME : 28 MONTHS

Design Options

Based on discussions at the initial design meetings inflcuenced by the feedback received through our public engagement, the following prelimineary design options were developped in July 2019: 

OPTION A - Full Gym & Walk Track 

OPTION B - Multipurpose Room & Walking Track 

OPTION C - Multipurpose Spaces Only

Following another round of discussion, it was determined that Option A was not feasible for the Municipality due to its cost, therefore that option was removed from contention and a focus was put on options B and C.

In September 2019, the designs of options B and C were revised to the following:

REVISED OPTION B - Multipurpose Room & Walking Track

REVISED OPTION C - Multipurpose Spaces Only

After considering both options in November 2019, it was determined that Option B would be the preferred option to pursue as it provided both the walking track and program space as was expressed as being important by the public.

In February 2020, Option B was tweaked to take into consideration the input from Council and Staff. This included moving the kitchen at a more central location, moving all of the washrooms together, creating more storage space and creating a larger foyer area.

REREVISED OPTION B - Multipurpose Room & Walking Track

Location, Location, Location

One crucial decision in this project was the physical location of the new Centre. Six different locations were evaluated, taking into consideration the existing water and sanitary lines, existing roads and future cohesion with other facilities and amenities. On October 28, 2019, Council made the decision (Resolution 191001) to attach the new Centre to the arena with a shared entrance.

Building Site Evaluation Summary

Where are we now and what's next?

With the location and general concept determined, SNM Architects have been working over the past year on two final design options: one with the walking track within the multipurpose space and the other with the walking track on an elevated mezzanine. This July, they presented the two following options:

REVISED OPTION B #1 - Walking Track within Multipurpose Room

REVISED OPTION B #2 - Walking Track on Second Mezzanine Level

In the winter of 2021, we intend to engage the public to better understand whether it prefers the walking track within the multipurpose room or on a second mezzanine level. If you have any comments ot questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Recreation Department at 902-637-2015.

Survey

On January 25, we launched a survey to get feedback on which option is preferred. It can be accessed by visiting: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3LXR5XG. It should only take 2 minutes of your time to complete and thank you in advance for your input!

Cost Estimates

The original budget for the building was set at $2.25-$2.5 million plus site work and contingencies. Since that time, rising material costs have increased the estimates to $2.74-$2.84 million. 

Cost Comparison