CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Charlottetown council is expected to bring down its annual capital budget today, and a new Simmons rink is likely one of the big items.
In fact, council is already moving ahead with plans to replace the aging facility as well as the adjacent pool.
At its regular monthly meeting on Monday night, Coun. Terry Bernard said the city is proceeding with plan B to replace Simmons Sport Centre, located next to Queen Charlotte Intermediate School.
The chairman of council’s standing committee on parks and recreation said staff is currently working on a request for proposals to be issued by the end of the week.
Plan B means this was not council’s first choice. The city wanted to replace Simmons with a third ice pad at the Bell Aliant Centre but that idea was shot down last month by the centre’s board of directors when the project was deemed too expensive.
Replacing Simmons is expected to be included in the city’s 2021-22 capital budget. That list of projects was supposed to have been formally voted on and passed by council on Monday night. However, the budget has was deferred until Wednesday because there was some confusion over budget numbers.
At the meeting on Monday, Bernard praised the efforts by a community group that has been fighting for a new surface. The group even has drawings on its website of what a new facility would look like. To be clear, those drawings are in no way connected to the city, Bernard said.
While replacing Simmons will cost the city a few million in this coming year’s capital budget, the corporation won’t have to foot the entire bill. The project is supposed to qualify under the federal government’s climate change funding formula, which will pay 73 per cent of the entire cost. The new rink and pool are expected to cost about $15 million, meaning the city will be on the hook for a bit less than $5 million.
Right now, the city plans on replacing the one ice surface at Simmons with a new ice surface.
However, Coun. Greg Rivard asked Bernard if that federal funding could help the city build a twin-pad.
The parks and recreation chairman responded that the federal funding will only help replace the existing ice surface. If the city wants to twin in, it would incur the entire cost of the second surface.
Bernard added that a public meeting will be held once preliminary plans are drawn up. At that point, it will proceed to the final design phase.
Following is information on a project to replace Simmons Sport Centre:
- It is expected to cost about $15 million.
- The federal government’s climate change funding formula will cover 73 per cent of the cost.
- The City of Charlottetown is expected to pay less than $5 million of the cost.
The new arena will be constructed first before the existing facility is demolished.
The city intends to include a walking track and community room inside the new arena.
Coun. Bob Doiron said he would like to see the same plan used to eventually replace Cody Banks Arena in the neighbourhood of Sherwood. That arena is supposed to have another five to seven years of life left in it.
The idea right now is that a major events centre would eventually be built somewhere in the city that would include two ice surfaces, one of which would act as a replacement for Cody Banks.
Such a plan would see Eastlink Centre revert into a community rink and give the city an additional ice surface.
Dave Stewart is The Guardian's municipal reporter.