Local residents can at last look forward to the opening of the BTC Field House.
Parks and recreation director Keith Anderson reported that substantial completion was achieved Jan. 31. A tentative date for the opening is slated for the first week of March.
Anderson expects users there will be pleased with the finished product.
"It's been a long time coming, but the building looks great and I think people will really enjoy using it," Anderson told council.
The news comes from Anderson's most recent construction update on the Credit Union CUPlex, presented to council Monday night.
According to his written report, only a few minor items are still to be completed at the field house location, including the sidewalk and landscaping by spring of 2013, with the city receiving a credit for the landscaping work. Netting is to be installed underneath the track in February, and some architectural deficiencies are to be completed as well.
Also, the City intends to proceed with its temporary plan to install base gravel and wooden walkways to provide access until the spring.
According to Anderson, the contract value including change orders come to $11,127,353. The gross value of work to date is $10,896,247.
Completion of the field house had been pushed back a few times. Earlier, it had been pushed back from a projected October completion date. More recently, completion was pushed back to January, scuttling a planned centennial New Year's party at the facility. The event had to be moved to the Civic Centre.
Substantial completion clears the way for the field house to open to the public in the coming weeks. The completed facility will feature two surfaces to house indoor sports: one is a rubberized multi-sport surface, while the other features a turf surface for sports such as indoor soccer. A running track is also part of the facility.
The field house is the last of the four components to officially open to the public.
As for the other three components that are now open, Anderson reports the curling rink building "is doing well." However, the other two components continue to be plagued by issues that still must be resolved.
Anderson said in his report, "contract completion and close out is going very poorly" at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts, with the City still requesting and waiting for a credit for the work involved with the completion of an east drive aisle and public square.
A conference call was planned for Tuesday, involving Barr Ryder and contractor APM in what Anderson described as an effort to get closure on the project.
"It's kind of hanging on and hanging on," was Anderson's description of the situation.
As well, Anderson reported mechanical and HVAC system issues, as well as building envelope issues, continue at the new aquatic centre. An independent thermal scan was done Jan. 25 to determine responsibility for the building envelope problem.
The plan is to continue to resolve and repair those issues.
Still, despite those hiccups, Anderson did report good news about how busy the aquatic centre has been as of late.
He told council a provincial winter sprint competition took place over the past weekend with 178 swimmers from around the province. Anderson noted the aquatic centre was "really, really busy" and called it great to see.
