Shovels are expected to hit the ground within the first half of 2023, following the federal government declaration that it would pay for most of the $16.3-million Brennan Park Recreation retrofit project.
On July 15, Sea to Sky MP Patrick Weiler announced on behalf of federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Dominic LeBlanc that Ottawa will be funding $11.7 million of the project.
This money is coming by way of Infrastructure Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.
“The Brennan Park Recreation Centre has been at the heart of Squamish since 1977. This deep retrofit project will upgrade a well-loved and well-used community complex into a more accessible, inclusive, and energy-efficient building,” said Weiler, in a news release.
The aging recreation centre has long been on the list for renovations and improvements and, after critical items like the fire halls and public works facility, is next on the municipality’s list for an overhaul.
Mayor Karen Elliott told The Squamish Chief that while the municipality has prioritized life safety and essential services, the District has been hearing the demand for a better Brennan Park.
“We know how much an expanded and renewed Brennan Park means to the community,” said Elliott. “And so what I hope is this signals to the community that we are working on it, and have been in the background behind these three other projects. And this is the first of those efforts to be successful.”
Municipal officials have been applying for grants from senior levels of government to help shoulder the costs of the project, and, in this case, the money came through.
“We saw this grant come forward; we [saw] that pieces of our Brennan Park renewal fit really, really well with this,” said Elliott. “So staff looked at the parameters for this grant, took pieces from that plan developed back in 2018, 2019 and put forward a really successful proposal.”
She said that the municipality would have to be involved in creative solutions to generate the rest of the money needed for the project.
This could take the form of community partnerships and fundraising, among other things, Elliott said.
Officials will be going straight to work.
“This grant is an immediate grant, which is great,” Kal Bragg, the District’s director of facilities and infrastructure, told The Squamish Chief.
“We can start working on it ASAP. So the plan is to start planning on it now…We’ve allocated some consulting fees for this year in which we start planning to form the team. So, for the rest of 2022, we’re going to get the project team together. And then we’re going to start construction, probably in quarter two next year. So from about March, April onwards, we’re literally going to start the construction itself.”
Bragg said that the project team will determine what part of the project will be started first.
The team will be composed of third-party contractors.
“We’re going out to market,” said Bragg. “And what we will probably end up doing is setting up what’s called an…integrated project design. And what that is, is instead of having a standard process where you get the architect on, and then you get another contract, you get a builder and then you get the engineers, what we’re doing is we get everyone at the table at once. And they’re on one contract.”
This method will allow the entire project team to meet at once and strategize what should be built and when, he said.
Money given by the federal government will go towards making the facility more environmentally friendly, among other things.
These improvements are intended to reduce the facility’s energy consumption through the replacement of the HVAC system with energy-saving units, electrified heating, and insulation upgrades to the ice arena wall and roof.
The retrofit will also improve accessibility and inclusivity.
Overhauls include a new elevator, automatic entrance doors, adjusted counter heights, and gender-neutral washrooms and change rooms, the federal government announcement said.
Renovations to the interior will also allow the facility to increase its programming space.
*Please note, this story has been updated since it was first published to include more information and quotes from Mayor Karen Elliott.
Correction: Shovels will hit the ground in 2023, not in 2022.
