The year 2010 will be remembered in the Battlefords as the year in which the Credit Union CUPlex finally started to become a reality.
By the end of the year, the foundations and some of the frames and girders of the theater and the aquatic centre components were up of the CUPlex site at the corner of Carlton Trail and Heritage Way, north of the Gold Eagle Lodge. Fundraisers were also closing in on meeting the ambitious $10 million fundraising target that was set for the project.
It was a far cry from the beginning of 2010, when naming rights were not yet in place and tenders had yet to be awarded for the project. Still, there was plenty of optimism as the year began.
A lot had already been accomplished towards moving the project forward by the start of 2010. A staunch multiplex supporter, Ian Hamilton, had been confirmed in office as mayor following the 2009 election. A location had been settled upon in the southeast quadrant of North Battleford, and a large amount of funding was in place. The city, province and federal government all pledged $24 million to the project, and other pledges had previously been announced including a $2.75 million commitment by Battlefords Tribal Council in 2009. By the end of the spring of 2010, the town of Battleford would also settle the long-standing issue of its own contribution by passing a resolution to contribute $1.6 million at town council.
Barr-Ryder Architects and Designers had been given the go-ahead in 2009 by North Battleford council to complete detailed design for the four components of the estimated $50 million facility: the theater, aquatic centre, curling facility and field house.
People in the community got a chance to see artist renderings and the blueprints for the as-yet unnamed multiplex at an open house held at the public library in January.
The plans were not entirely met with open arms from some members of the public. In particular, local swim club supporters expressed particular concern about the size of the pool in the aquatic centre. The plans called for a six-lane pool, but the swimmers wanted eight lanes in order to attract competitions to North Battleford.
Most multiplex supporters were happy to finally see the project get going, and they prepared for what would be an active year of fundraising activity. The Raise the Roof! Fundraising committee had been anxious on getting moving in their efforts to reach the $10 million target. Now that detail design was in place and plans presented, fundraisers felt confident they would finally secure funding commitments from people who had been sitting on the fence because of uncertainty over the project.
The first order of business for the new fundraising co-chairs Heath Gabruch and Rob Rongve was to secure naming rights for the facility. In May 2010, the announcement was made that Innovation Credit Union would be contributing $1.5 million towards the naming rights for the whole multiplex, to be now known as the Credit Union CUPlex. The naming rights were to last for the entire lifespan of the facility.
"This was a natural for our branding," said interim CEO Susan Woods at the announcement, made at Innovation Credit Union's North Battleford location. "When you think about the whole complex, you'll think about the credit union and its support of the community."
Co-chair Gabruch said the contribution would set the tone for the rest of the fundraising campaign to come, as the community would realize the facility is "not just talk, it's coming to fruition."
Soon after on June 10th, 2010, the formal relaunch of the fundraising campaign took place at an event at Western Development Museum, where a flurry of announcements were made about major funding commitments to the new complex.
Two of the announcements made were for naming rights for individual components. Battlefords and District Co-op announced it had secured naming rights in perpetuity for the aquatic center for $750,000.
As well, the Northwestern Radio Partnership (CJNB, Q98 FM. 93.3FM) announced it had secured the naming rights in perpetuity for the theatre, to be known as the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts, named in memory of the long time broadcaster Harry Dekker. The radio stations had pledged $500,000 in cash and $500,000 in promotional support for the multiplex.
Several other community groups and businesses, including ACT, the Kinsmen and Kiwanis clubs, and Scott Campbell Dodge were also on hand to lend support and announce their own commitments at the event, which was broadcast on CJNB radio to the region. The fundraisers estimated that $6.1 million in commitments were in place by the end of the night.
The Raise the Roof committee provided several levels for fundraising support where people could contribute. The levels were Friends ($500 to $50000), Supporters, ($10,000 to $50,000), Members ($100000 to $250,000) and Founders ($500,000 and up), with the last category covering naming rights opportunities.
"Friends" would have the opportunity to sponsor such things as a seat in the Performing Arts Centre, a storage room, an office, a soccer net and other such items for $1,000. There were opportunities to sponsor a curling rock for $500, as well as life belts and lifesavers in the aquatic centre for the same price.
A $10,000 contribution by "Supporters" would get sponsorship of a coat room or an admin office, or clocks. $50,000 would cover sponsorship of a dressing room or the green room or lighting room at the theatre. Rongve and Gabruch would expand the number of offerings in the "Supporters" category by year's end, citing its popularity with donors.
"Members" would receive major signage in the facility, with the main stage of the performing arts centre running for $350,000 and the secondary stage at $150,000, the main pool running at $350,000, and with several $100,000 and $150,000 opportunities available as well.
There were also plans announced to raise up to $3 million by selling art that will be displayed throughout the CUplex from the likes of name artists such as Lloyd Pinay and Joe Fafard.
The fundraising launch got things rolling, and there was more good news to come just a few days later. Northland Power chose the occasion of the sod-turning for construction of their North Battleford Energy Centre to announce they had secured the naming rights to the curling facility for $750,000. Both Rongve and Gabruch were at the sod-turning event to receive the good donation news.
With the fundraising campaign well on its way, North Battleford city council got to work in deciding tenders for the theater and aquatic centre components. Each component would be tendered separately - the idea being to bring about a competitive process and keep costs down for the project.
Nine bids were submitted and three firms were shortlisted for the theatre component. Finally, after some additional bid-tweaking to find further cost savings, as well as a review of the process by the city solicitor to make sure the proper process was being followed, city council awarded the tender for the theatre at a special meeting in July to the Charlottetown-based firm APM Construction, for $13,060,704 plus additional taxes.
While the process had been a competitive one, the tender award did not produce the savings that had been hoped. The tender had been awarded at a price about $1.2 million higher than what Barr-Ryder had estimated the cost of the theatre would be the previous year.
In August, Jen Col Construction Ltd. was awarded the tender for the Aquatic Centre component, with council finally confirming it would go with the less expensive six-lane option. The Stony Plain, Alberta-based construction company Jen Col beat out seven other bidders with a low bid price of $16,459,000 plus GST.
Again, the tender price came in over the initial estimates, a worry for council. City manager Jim Toye told councillors the mindset for the remaining components was "not go into contingencies" and bring the remaining projects in on budget.
With tenders out of the way for the first two components, the fundraising committee ramped up their efforts to raise even more money for the CUPlex project. They were helped by the efforts of ordinary people in the community who were coming up with their own goofy and outlandish ideas to raise funds.
The shaggy-haired Derek Schmidt of Bill and Don's Mens Wear agreed to have his hairy locks shaved off if the community came through with raising $10,000 in a fundraising challenge by August 31. Schmidt bid a fond farewell to most of his hair on Sept. 1 at Fran's Beauty Salon in North Battleford.
The Hammer Heads came up with ideas of their own to allow the little guy to donate. They announced in September a plan to enable individual donors to make monthly, quarterly or annual contributions towards the CUPlex for as little as $25 a month.
The Raise the Roof committee scheduled a "Million Dollar Day" in mid-October, with the goal of announcing at least $1 million in additional contributions towards the multipurpose facility. Several sponsorships were announced during the live event broadcast from the boardroom of RBC Dominion Securities, with several community groups and businesses stepping up with their contributions. A total of $1,010,387 in contributions was announced, raising the overall Raise the Roof! Totals past $7.5 million.
"It's a very exciting day," said Gabruch at the time. "It just goes to show the momentum is there. People in our community are extremely generous, knowing that the Credit Union CUPlex is a reality."
Soon after, Battlefords Tribal Council confirmed it had secured naming rights for the field house, and presented their first payment of $250,000 towards the project at their announcement in November.
Battleford mayor Chris Odishaw formally presented the town's previously announced commitment of $1.6 million, to be paid out over ten years, to North Battleford at a city council meeting in November.
By the end of the year, the Raise the Roof committee has announced $7.8 million in contributions for the CUPlex and anticipated even more to come. Among those contributing was Battlefords Publishing who added $20,000 going towards a recognition wall of the curling rink.
More importantly, work was well underway on the theatre and aquatic centre components.
Parks and recreation director Stuart York updated council on the progress at the site at a meeting in December. He reported that pilings are complete and two-thirds of grade beams have been poured for the theatre component. The parking lot area had been leveled and steel was expected to begin to arrive and be put up.
Pilings for the aquatic centre were about half complete, York reported, with the basin floor for the lane pool poured, excavation for the wave pool completed and the rebar construction underway for the pool walls. A decision on tenders for the curling rink and field house was still to come in 2011.
The construction activity was visibly apparent to anyone who happened to be in the vicinity, with the beams on the construction now visible for a considerable distance along Carlton Trail.
City residents can expect to see even more visible progress in the months ahead as work continues, both on the construction site and behind the scenes, to build the Credit Union CUPlex in 2011.
