Paul Barnable, the city’s director of community services, said workers with Centaur completed about three weeks of prep work at the Western Sports and Entertainment-run facility prior to Christmas. This included stripping the existing 20,000 square-foot rubberized canvas floor and removing glue from the concrete surface underneath.
Barnable said the Nova Scotia-based company, which specializes in flooring and gymnasiums, is now waiting on delivery of the new flooring material. Work is expected to resume around the middle of the month to complete preparation of the concrete, which required only minor repairs, and then to install the new plastic floor.
He likens the material to that used on the walking/running track that encircles the upper level of the main arena at the adjacent Pepsi Centre. The material was chosen to increase the usage options for the facility.
“Council still wants it to be a multipurpose (facility),” said Barnable.
In addition to being used to host conferences and banquets, the facility will provide a playing area for sports like soccer, basketball and volleyball.
Included in the tender are a divider curtain, score clocks and all the nets and fittings necessary to convert the floor for use by the various sports. Centaur will also provide a 20,000 square-foot turf covering for soccer play. Barnable said this covering is flexible in that the entire floor surface can be covered or just half or even a quarter of the space.
A 20,000 square-foot cover will also be provided to protect the floor when the facility is being used for conferences and other events. Again, Barnable said, the covering can be placed over as much space as is being used.
The city has budgeted $599,000 for the project and Barnable doesn’t anticipate going over.
“In that tender there were a lot of contingency costs in there that we didn’t feel we needed, but we included it. So, it looks like a lot of those contingency costs won’t kick in.”
He said some slight changes to the project have allowed for savings in some areas, which makes up for increased costs in others.
Barnable estimates that once work resumes it will take about four weeks to complete.
dcrocker@thewesternstar.com
Twitter: WS_DianeCrocker
