Jason Stockfish, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
At the Feb. 22 committee of the whole meeting, administration presented its request for a decision regarding a report on renovations to the Jasper Activity Centre and Aquatic Centre.
Recognizing that the recreational facilities in Jasper are well-loved by the community, CAO Bill Given opened the discussion by noting that some of the structures involved were built back in the 1950s and that in 2019 the municipality received just under $7 million in federal grant money to put toward major renovations of the infrastructure.
Given further explained that council has approved funds in upcoming budgets to assist with funding the project.
In total, council has approved about $11 million through the 2022-2023 budget to potentially invest in renovations for the project.
The purpose of the discussion at the Feb. 22 meeting was to determine 鈥渨hat is possible, and to receive council鈥檚 prioritization and guidance on what the priorities should be,鈥� Given said.
Given added that administration is looking to 鈥渞efine the direction so (they) can do detailed work and bring back to (council) a decision鈥� about whether the project should move ahead or whether further steps are required before proceeding.
Hired to assess the situation and provide a vision for what is possible in terms of renovations to the town鈥檚 recreational facilities was GEC Architecture out of Calgary.
Through its work, GEC came up with a report, within which they found potential problems and solutions.
Andrew Tankard, a partner with GEC, said they divided their assessment into two categories鈥攔ecommended scopes and additional scopes.
The most pressing matters GEC found related to building code, life safety deficiencies, accessibility improvements and lifecycle renewal and maintenance.
Found in the recommended category were a few items, including a new ventilator for the arena, renovations to the bleachers so that the design complied with code in case of an emergency, regrading around the entrances of the arena, updated lighting, and landscaping and paving around the Activity Centre to address safety concerns.
Additionally, some of the mechanical and electrical equipment are at the end of their service life and need to be replaced.
Another priority GEC determined related to accessibility improvements.
An elevator connecting the floors, especially with the Senior鈥檚 Centre being located onsite and administration鈥檚 vision of making the facility more accessible to seniors in the future, would be a welcome addition, Tankard added.
As for the Aquatic Centre, it was determined that the universal change rooms on the pool deck should be relocated and that partial renovation of the men鈥檚 change room was necessary.
鈥淭hese were the items that, between the technical experts that viewed the facilities and our administrative team, were really identified as the core things that need to be addressed,鈥� Given told the committee.
Other subjective items mentioned in GEC鈥檚 report weren鈥檛 safety related but would provide potential benefits to the community, Given explained.
Some of the additional scope items the committee was tasked with considering were the creation of a viewing area and lounge over the lobby, converting one or both squash courts into multipurpose space(s) and moving the Senior鈥檚 Centre from its current location so as to provide direct access to the Activity Centre.
Also discussed was the redesigning of the change rooms and the basement bathrooms in the Activity Centre and redesigning the women鈥檚 change room in the Aquatic Centre in addition to the men鈥檚.
鈥淟et鈥檚 focus on the needs and the desires for the facility and administration will come back to (council) and demonstrate how we would propose to fund what is determined to be necessary,鈥� Given said.
Over the course of the meeting, a number of motions were presented.
The first motion was put forth by Coun. Scott Wilson in regard to the recommended scopes of the report, those being the needs, the items that were related to building code, life safety deficiencies, accessibility improvements and lifecycle renewal and maintenance.
The motion passed 6-0.
The passing of that motion was followed by a series of others that addressed the additional scopes, those being the desires. All of these additional motions also passed.
As a result, administration will be discussing with GEC the design and costing of items such as a second-story lounge and viewing area, redesigning the change rooms in the arena, the repurposing of one of the squash courts and the reconstruction of the bathrooms in the basement of the Activity Centre.
The topic of relocating the Senior鈥檚 Centre did not face a motion and will be discussed again in the future.
After consulting with GEC on these directions from the committee, administration will bring back its findings for further discussion with councillors.
If the recommended and the additional scopes of the renovations go ahead, a possible timeline for completion for the project, depending on the phases involved with construction, would be about two years.
