Region chipper about new recreation complex

Engineering and Works Director, Brad Rowter describes the work as preliminary but essential, adding, “We had a timber cruise done, which identified merchantable timber of which we will have harvested for the timber value.”

Crews are using an excavator-mounted chipper to “clear and chip” the brush and smaller trees, he adds.

“When we have all that done and get the timber cut we will have a topographical survey done that will identify the various elevations and cut and fill areas, which we can then use to design the facility.”

He says, as only some examples, the heights of sections of the land need to be finalized for sewage and water flow purposes. The contours of the land are also, of course, important to the final design, he adds. An example would be the parking lot.

Part of the process also involves establishing what sites are good for installing the foundation through test pits, Rowter says, adding a road and some perimetre ditches will be constructed to the end of the property, located between Highway #103 and Highway #3 near the Exit 19 commercial area.

“This will basically enable us to get a design. It’s been conceptualized with a plan at the (Region of Queens) open houses but we need a more detailed design than that.”

This initial work will continue throughout the winter and spring.

Rowter says an Expression of Interest will then be advertised. It is not called a tender, he says, because the Region requires a specific skill-set from the winning architect or architectural firm.

For example, he says the Region needs expertise in capturing heat taken from water when the ice on the rink section of the facility is frozen. He says this heat will be used to not only heat the pool area but the building as well.

“We have to be careful. We’re looking for a very sensitive set of abilities as it relates to energy recovery. We want an economic structure; we want a good lay-out, good aesthetics, and we want it to be user friendly, but first and foremost we want it to be energy efficient.”

The conceptual plan includes a NHL-sized arena, 900 seats that could be expanded in number with special flooring on the ice surface or concrete underneath and by using the walking and running track that is also recommended.

Also included in the basic plan are a community room, a 25-metre, four-lane swimming pool and hot pool that could be used, as one example, for water aerobics. Smaller details include upstairs and downstairs lobbies, machinery areas and a fitness area.

Other groups and organizations can opt in through lease agreements.

The provincial government is providing $5-million, the Region has set aside $2.5-million, is applying for a $500,000 Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency grant and plans to raise at least $2-million in total from the community. The balance will be borrowed and paid back over 40 years.

The facility should be open in about three years or less.