FERGUS – Centre Wellington is applying for a grant to do significant upgrades to the Elora Community Centre.
On Oct. 28, managing director of community service Pat Newson announced that the township would like to apply for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) funding.
The grant would significantly upgrade the Elora Community Centre.
Newson said the centre was chosen because it aligns with many of the grant’s objectives:
– promotes good asset management – it is identified as a high priority of the asset management plan and it is identified as a facility the needs renovations to extend its lifecycle on the Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan;
– meets community and user needs or a service gap – it is also identified on council’s strategic plan to provide more seniors programing in Elora and more youth and family recreation in Elora; and
– fosters greater accessibility – building needs major upgrades to bring it to the accessibility standards in the Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
“The plan is to modernize and replace this aging infrastructure in this facility, which will lessen the burden over the next decade to address lifecycle needs in this facility,” Newson said.
The proposed project would include:
– replacing the ice pad, boards and glass as well as the ice making refrigeration equipment;
– updating refrigeration/mechanical room;
– modifying the building to meet all Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act standards including providing accessible dressing rooms, an accessible area for viewing the ice surface and accessible washrooms, entrances and doors;
– providing new recreational multipurpose program spaces including rooms for senior, youth, pre-school and family recreation and leisure programming;
– expand the size and ceiling height of the Elora Community Centre hall to allow for sports, fitness and wellness activities in additional to regular community hall uses;
– modernizing and replacing aging infrastructure;
– installing a generator so the centre can be used as an emergency shelter;
– installing solar panels to reduce hydro costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
– repaving and improving the parking lot.
“In order for us to cost out and begin plans for this project, staff are already working on a concept for accessibility in 2019 so we’ve taken that planning an extra step in concept only and included the entire renovation so that we could meet the accessibility and programming needs and future growth of this facility to try and cost it out,” Newson said.
Mayor Kelly Linton explained that 73 per cent of the project funding would come from the federal and provincial governments.
“For every 26 cents we spend, they spend the rest of that dollar,” Newson said.
While the cost of the project is still under review, Newson anticipates it will cost between $4.5 and 5 million.
Based on the cost sharing Centre Wellington would be responsible for about $1.33 million.
Newson said about $1.35 million was already included in the capital forecast to repair the Elora Community Centre floor, ice pad equipment, concrete, glass and boards in the ice arena as well as a roof replacement.
“It really comes at a good time because we’re about to embark on one of the most expensive pieces of lifecycle rehabilitation at that facility, which is the arena ice floor, and this means that it has to get done in 2021,” Newson said. “It’s on its final life and it will probably stop producing ice within the next couple of seasons.”
The funding announcement will be made in spring 2020 and construction would likely start in 2021 with completion goal of spring 2022.
However, Newson did caution council by saying requests for funding under the ICIP will exceed the amount of money available.
“These kinds of grants for recreation and culture come very far and few between for the government, so every municipality in Ontario will be applying,” Newson said. “There’s no guarantees but we would really like to get this application in.
Councillor Stephen Kitras asked whether an architect would need to be hired in the future.
Newson said a consultant and/or architect would be hired with the grant money to create a full scale building construction drawing plan but the grant would not cover the cost of consultants before the funding is received.
“It does not have to be shovel ready, construction ready,” Newson said. “We consider it zero to 25% ready to build and that’s okay because some projects will take until 2027 to complete.”
Councillor Bob Foster asked whether there was a report on putting turf in at the Elora Community Centre.
Newson responded saying staff the municipality is undergoing a feasibilty study for a indoor turf facility.
“It’s premature just to ask for that in this grant at this time because we haven’t addressed and confirmed the need, the cost and other items for an indoor turf facility in this community yet,” Newson said. She did add that the concept allows for the potential to add on to the Elora Community Centre where the baseball diamond is now.
