The Barrhead Regional Aquatics Centre, capped at $12.178 million, might not be ready in time for a July 1 grand opening.
That was the consensus of Barrhead town councillors during their May 23 meeting after hearing an update from mayor Gerry St. Pierre.
Earlier in the day, St. Pierre received an e-mail from project manager Clarke Builders, stating the substantial completion date would be delayed.
The substantial completion date is the stage in the progress of the work when it is sufficiently complete in accordance with the contract so that the owner can occupy the building.
“Apparently because of a delay encountered by the tilers,” he said, adding as a result the substantial completion date had been moved to May 23.
Originally the substantial completion dated had been projected to happen in mid-to-late April.
Other significant dates Clarke Builders noted include: June 8 occupation inspection; June 12 occupancy certificate and the date the town takes over control of the building; June 13-14 aquatic centre maintenance staff are scheduled to receive mechanical, electrical and pool-systems training.
Before anyone is allowed to enter the pools, Alberta Health Services (AHS) must grant its approval, a process that is expected to begin June 19 with water testing. Test results should be known by June 23 and if all things go well the pool’s lifeguard staff can begin training.
“I know Ms. [Linda] Swanson [aquatic centre supervisor] is anxious to get going and wants her staff in the pool as long as possible before we officially open because the lifeguards have a lot of training to do, but there isn’t much that can be done until AHS grants its approval,” he said, adding he suggested that they could rent pool time in Westlock as a stop-gap measure.
St. Pierre said, while the timing is tight, he still believes a July 1 opening is still possible for a combined grand opening, and Canada Day celebration.
Coun. Don Smith said they needed to make plans for an alternative date.
“If Canada Day works out, that’s fine, but I really have concerns that it is doable,” he said. “The window is pretty tight and if only one thing in that long list of dates goes off the rails, it just cascades.”
Coun. Leslie Penny suggested even if patrons can’t use the pool, they could still tour the facility July 1.
“Because that is what everyone is really interested in — just seeing the building,” she said. “Whatever we do we don’t want to put undue pressure on our staff, because opening a new facility is pressure enough.”
Although council didn’t make a motion, they agreed they needed to make a decision regarding the facility’s grand opening by June 13.
Councillors unanimously agreed to extend the town’s agreement with AUMA/AMSC’s energy aggregation program for both natural gas and electricity until 2022. The town’s current agreement would have expired in 2020.
The program is run by the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association and it allows participating municipalities to lock in at a lower utility price than they might be able to negotiate on its own due to volume buying.
