It is a plan that is still a few years off, but the Humboldt city council is looking towards planning for a new multiplex.
The development plan in 2009 for Centennial Park included the school and development around the park. Now the city is looking to the next phase of the plan.
In 2012, they brought in P3Architechure out of Regina, getting community feedback at the citywide registration and talking with local sports and arts clubs.
Representatives from P3Architechure met with council on Oct. 13 to discuss the findings from their discussion with the public and to show the city some preliminary layouts and discuss costs with council.
What the public, city and architects want is a truly multi-used facility, from a variety of sports to trade shows and conventions to performances and art space.
Community and leisure services director Darrell Lessmeister said that they are making do with what they have when it comes to using gym space and theatre space they’ve created since the demolition of the HCI auditorium. The city is utilizing what’s available and it’s now time to expand on that.
“We have very good partnerships with the community and St. Peter’s College,” he said. “We’ve been using their gym but they’re getting busier and we’re getting busier. We need to find more suitable spaces.”
Right now, everything is still conceptual.
“It’s an estimate,” he said. “They’re only estimates we need to filter some of that out and look at what’s the need and how are we going to scale it and how we can make it work for the community.”
This is going to be a 20-30-year facility, so the city does not want to make plans for a building that is either too big or too small.
“It’s always tough to figure out what we need for today and we’re going to need for tomorrow,” Lessmeister said.
The point of the presentation by P3Architechure was to get a concept in place. In order to apply for grants or funding, the council members would need something concrete in front of them. Beyond having the plans in front of them, Lessmeister said they do not have a time frame planned yet.
“Right now, we don’t have any anticipatory timeline,” he said. “We haven’t got that direction. This information will go back to the community and to council and council will give us that direction on how fast they want this to go forward.”
Humboldt residents will be able to discuss what is needed for the new multiplex at a public meeting later in November.
Cost will also be up for discussion. Lessmeister said it becomes a balancing act.
“If it is something smaller, what are you sacrificing for different programs, events or activities? If you do something bigger, what are those costs going to be?” he said.
With everything being preliminary, the city will be testing whether some plans are too expensive and what to scale back on.
Population is also a factor in the balancing act of building a new facility, since the city not only has to build something that accommodates the current size of the city but also account for later growth.
“We hate to build something for 6,000 and then five to six years down the road, we’re at 10,000 people and it no longer meets our needs. Now we either have to build on or expand,” he said.
Mayor Malcolm Eaton mentioned the Uniplex as the perfect example of something that lasted since it was built to accommodate 1,800 when the city was not near that size.
“The people who did that really committed 25-30 years ago to build something that was way beyond what a community that size should build. We can just applaud them for that vision because it serves us well today,” Eaton said.
Lessmeister said that was thinking of the future and the needs of the future, and the same has to be done with the multiplex.
