David Campbell, the newly minted city councillor for Ward 1, has driven past the recreation centre on West Street almost daily in recent months as he has taken his wife to work.
He admitted this week he had been disappointed by a perceived lack of progress at the emerging complex.
“Like a lot of people, I looked at the construction and (thought) it doesn’t seem like anything is happening. What’s going on?” he said at a meeting of council and senior management this week.
His viewpoint has changed dramatically in recent days. Earlier in the week, he and fellow council newcomer Jay Fallis were treated to a tour of the $54.5-million facility.
“Having been in the building, it’s astounding to see how much is actually underneath (the roof),” said Campbell. “It’s really, really impressive. (It’s) going to be the jewel of Orillia and really something we can be proud of.”
Ray Merkley, the city’s manager of parks, recreation and culture, and Kent Guptill, the city’s director of facilities and special projects, provided the “new” city council with an update on the project at Thursday’s meeting of council and senior management.
While work is progressing and the project is currently on budget, it is not on time, officials concede.
The original goal was to have the recreation centre open in the fall of 2018. Then the date was pushed to early in 2019. Now, Merkley said, the target is a June opening.
“The (contractor) has updated the (completion date) to June, which is still technically the second quarter,” said Merkley. “We are pushing them (to complete it earlier). We are still going to need time to get the facility ready and the staff trained.”
While disappointed with the delayed opening, there is a silver lining: the $500,000 budgeted for operating costs in 2018 has not been spent and is now considered an operating surplus.
Guptill said some key construction milestones have been reached. “All utilities are now connected to the building,” he said, noting gas, hydro, sewer, storm water, and water services are all connected.
He said the heating, venting and air conditioning units are also in place.
All the “major trades are on site and active,” said Guptill. Skylights were installed last week above the main corridor and into the fitness area, while framing of the panel ceiling above the pool is also nearing completion.
Guptill said it was hoped more of the exterior brickwork would be finished but he said contractors will be working in the cold, with portable heating units and tarps, to finish the cladding.
He said once the ceiling is complete, testing of the pool will begin.
As far as exterior work, the first layer of asphalt has been laid in the parking lot and curbs have been installed. Most of the fill, imported from west Orillia, has been trucked into the site as well, he said.
Merkley said about 65 percent of the budget has been spent to date, leaving about $16 million of work still to be done.
He noted the project’s overall contingency budget is $2.8 million. To date, about $2.3 million of that budget has been spent, while about $185,000 worth of change orders are in progress, leaving about 300,000 in the contingency fund.
“Staff will report to council in January to provide an update on the project and costs,” said Merkley.
Mayor Steve Clarke, who joined Fallis and Campbell, along with Guptill and Merkley on the recent tour of the recreation centre, said he wanted to ensure the new facility had a top-notch audio-visual (AV) system.
“The gym is designed as a multi-use facility we could use for OPP graduation, Lakehead graduation, trade shows, etc. Part of that is having a good AV system and accompanying acoustics,” said Clarke, who said he had experienced poor systems in otherwise nice facilities. “Are you comfortable we can put on a world-class stage presentation?”
Merkley noted the $100,000 in legacy funding from the successful hosting of the Ontario Winter Games was being used to purchase state-of-the-art AV equipment. Guptill also said acoustics and AV requirements were considered in the building’s design.
“It’s going to be a world-class building with those things in mind,” said Guptill.
The Orillia Recreation Centre is on a 36-acre brownfield site on West Street. The 132,000-square-foot facility will have a 25-metre, eight-lane pool with viewing area, a therapeutic pool and leisure pool.
The complex also boasts two FIBA-sized basketball courts with viewing on both sides, multi-purpose and child-care rooms, a fitness centre and studio and a walking/jogging track.
Outside, on 21.5-acres of “naturalized” land will be walking trails, a bridge over Ben’s Ditch connecting pathways and other amenities.
