A major project is on the long-term horizon in Battleford and that is expansion of the Battleford Arena.
Council heard from director of parks and recreation Jordan Schechtel about the arena expansion at a recent town council meeting. The expansion/renovation is a long-term project for the town that is not expected to see construction happen for another decade, likely around 2030.
The town is nevertheless getting the ball rolling on concepts for what the facility would look like. Administration was seeking direction on a conceptual design so the engineering firm Associated Engineering could finalize drawings as well as develop artistic renderings.
Three arena designs were presented to council in a report back in May. The one council went with is considered the most basic design, and has common elements associated with all three designs presented.
The design includes a new canopy on the front entrance to keep snow from piling at the door, removal of the wall separating the staff area and management office, removal of dressing room 鈥�4鈥� to allow a bigger lobby area or possibly stairs to a lounge area, and construction of four new dressing rooms and the building of one new dressing room out of a storage area.
A second design that was proposed also keeps these elements, but the lobby would be expanded to the north by removing the wall between the lobby and the arena. The third design included an upstairs lounge above the current lobby, and an elevator, stairwell and fire escape.
The construction costs were estimated at $1.472 million for design one, $1.626 million for design two and $2.099 million for design three; contingency, tax and engineering would also progressively go up.
When adding those additional costs in, the first design鈥檚 price tag came to about $1.863 million. The second design was estimated at $2.058 million and the third design $2.655 million. Estimates were within plus/minus 25 percent.
In the end council went with the administration recommendation to proceed with the first design. According to administration鈥檚 report, this design addresses all the current issues with the arena, which includes small and limited numbers of dressing rooms, a small lobby, and a lack of storage.
A question had been posed by council previously about going ahead with the first design but adding in construction of the elevator, stairwell, fire escape and upstairs lounge at a later date. Schechtel said in talking with Associated Engineering this could be done, however it may only result in an estimated $200,000 savings with the Town on the hook for more engineering, administration and mobilization fees.
Battleford Arena currently is home to the Battlefords Beaver Blues senior hockey team and the female U18 Battlefords Sharks, and accommodates several other local teams and organizations.
In speaking to the News-Optimist, Schechtel indicated the immediate next step for the arena project is 鈥渇inishing up with the conceptual drawings, now that we know which one council wants to proceed with.鈥�
Some artistic renderings of what the newly-upgraded Battleford Arena would look like with be drawn up. Schechtel said the drawings and renderings would then be presented to the public for an opportunity for feedback, after which further refinements would be done.
Further along, construction drawings would need to be done and funding would need to be found, possibly including seeking external funding from the province. But that is 鈥測ears down the road,鈥� said Schechtel.
