Photo courtesy City of Quesnel

Quesnel, B.C. – Plans to build a new 1,600 seat arena in Quesnel have taken another step forward with the hiring of a general contractor.

The hiring was announced yesterday at a North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee meeting.

There the committee directed staff to negotiate a contract for the construction of the West Fraser Centre with Vic Van Isle (VVI) Construction.

According to the City of Quesnel: “The selection of the Kelowna based company was based on a range of criteria including their fee proposal, work plan and schedule, experience of personnel assigned to the project, and their use of local trades.”

The City says construction of the arena is anticipated to start early this spring “with substantial completion of the new building anticipated as early as the spring of 2017.”

A budget ceiling of $20.6 million has been set for the project, which will include all construction, architectural design, project management and site development costs with the hope of bringing costs down.

“Staff will be working with VVI and the project manager to bring the project costs down below this maximum ceiling without significantly diminishing the functionality and the utilization of this new community asset.”

Last spring the project was budgeted at $18,759,740, but the City says the combination of “a significantly depressed Canadian dollar” and the need to source steel and the major mechanical components from the United States, are the reasons for the increase.

With the dollar so low, why not delay the project?

“The Committee believes that delaying or re-designing the project will not result in any gains,” says Committee Co-Chair, Cariboo Regional District (CRD) Electoral Area B Director Jerry Bruce. “It will only result in a diminished project for the same or even greater cost.”

Despite the increased cost, Simpson says there will be no tax implications for sub-regional recreation taxpayers.

“The project will be completed within the $7.5 million borrowing and taxation authority obtained through the 2014 referendum.”

Simpson adds that the extra costs will be covered by capital reserves within the North Cariboo Recreation and Parks budget.

Final completion of the project and occupancy of the new building is planned for mid-August, 2017.