Council isn’t near the point of making a decision on the long term future of either the Civic Centre or the Marysville Arena, but at their regular meeting on February 28, 2022, they did receive an engineering report on the two buildings’ condition.
The report outlined the various capital investments that would have to be put into the two facilities over the next 20 years and concluded that major capital investments will be required to maintain the current status quo. It all adds up $6.8 million in 2022 dollars. The report also concludes that $5.7 million of those investments will need to come in the next one to five years. The list of repairs and maintenance is a lengthy one, with everything from $3,000 for retaining walls to $500,000 for chillers/ammonia plant.
The report estimates that it would cost $9,758,900 to replace the civic centre and $9,488,000 to replace the Marysville Arena. It was explained that although they are very different buildings, they have similar square footage, thus costs to replace are close. However some councillors wanted to double check those numbers as they felt the Civic Centre had far more to it than the other arena.
Lawrence McSorely, the representative from Stephenson Engineering said the generally a building such as these had about an 85 year lifespan. The Civic Centre is 60 years old, and Marysville is 48, although he noted that Marysville had a roof put over an existing slab 48 years ago. Marysville Arena is in a little better shape than the Civic Centre overall.
The long term decision that has to be made is whether to continue to maintain the current facilities or to look at replacement.
The report concludes: Based on our review, and considering the anticipated population growth, the City should consider replacing the facility with one that can meet both the current and expanded program functions. Given the close proximity of the two arenas, consideration should be made to incorporate a 2nd ice sheet into a single facility in order to provide lower operational costs and have better program efficiencies.
One building with two ice surfaces would have advantages, McSorely said. New buildings have humidification systems meaning less rust, the ice plant is shared, dressing rooms can be shared, less staffing would be needed than for two facilities.
“It is more cost effective over time,” he said.
Council agreed that one building with two ice surfaces was probably the best idea, but also acknowledged that, facing a huge expenditure for a new waste water treatment plant, finding the funds for a new arena would be more than problematic.
“The report is full of data,” said Mayor Don McCormick. “But there are no real conclusions. Staff needs to take this data and come back with strategies.”
Council directed staff to prepare a report summarizing the key findings of the conditions assessment and bring it back to Council.
READ: Kimberley Council receives facilities report
carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com
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