Town and County presented with new aquatic centre proposal

Town and County councillors were presented with a new pool proposal at their joint council meeting Monday, July 14.

Michael Winder, sales manager of Sprung Instant Structures Ltd., shared a presentation with councils about the company, then another specifically about aquatic centres Sprung has worked on.

The company’s structures are made of aluminum arches, which are connected to an architectural membrane. The aluminum comes with a life expectancy of 60 years and a 30 year warranty, while the membrane has a life expectancy of 30 years and comes with a 20 year warranty.

Sprung works with Myrtha Pools, a pool design and supply company that has hundreds of pools across North America including in Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray.

Winder said the cost of an aquatic centre in Barrhead should not cost more than $5.5-$6 million using Sprung Structures and Myrtha Pools.

The pool itself, with a six lane swimming pool, lazy river, zero entry pool, hot tub, and slide would cost between $1.2-$1.5 million. The Sprung Structure would probably range in cost between $700,000 and $1 million, depending on the features like sunshine doors and number of exits.

The rest of the costs are for things like construction, landscaping, and contracting.

Winder said if shovels are in the ground in Spring 2015, the construction turnaround time for the Sprung Structure and Myrtha Pool is about eight months. The project would be completed and ready to use by September or October if construction started by April 15, he said.

Town coun. Ty Assaf asked Winder if Sprung Structures has their own architect, or if they would be willing to work with one the Town may have on standby.

Winder said currently he is working with six different architects across Western Canada, however the company will work with anyone granted the architect is open-minded about the Sprung building.

“There are a lot of architects that just think the membrane building is the worst thing that happened to the building industry. A lot of architects like to create their own space, and with my building you can’t quite do that because my building comes in a shape and format, it is what it is,” said Winder. “I’ve learned over time if I find an architect that likes what I have to offer, and is creative with what I have to offer, that’s the architect I’m going to stick with.”

Town coun. Roy Ulmer questioned how durable the membrane of the building would be, and how often the material would need to be replaced.

Winder said there is some maintenance involved, and the building will need to be re-roofed every 28-30 years. He didn’t have a cost for a pool, but he was able to share the cost of an arena membrane replacement.

“I can give you the cost of a hockey rink, which is probably going to be a little bit larger than the pool,” said Winder. “To recover that roof with the same membrane that we’ve got, you’re looking at a total cost of around $265,000. That’s every 28-30 years.”

Because of the way the membrane is connected to the aluminum in individual panels, Winder said this allows the building to be virtually airtight.

“It’s a less than 2 per cent air infiltration out of the building. If your building is like ours, less than two per cent, there’s an immediate saving,” he said. “Studies show it’s between 40 and 62 per cent annually you’ll save on your energy costs.”

The building would need to be built on a concrete slab. To address frost migration under the structure in the winter, Winder said there’s always styrofoam that goes down vertically and off on a 45 degree angle below the frost line to keep the concrete warm.

Snow removal around the outside of the building is also critical, as snow easily sheds off the buildings. Winder said this could be a problem if the pool is built in a confined space, such as the location of the old pool.

“If the pool is going to go into an area between two buildings, and I don’t have at least 10 feet between my building and the adjacent buildings for snow removal, then that becomes a bit of a challenge,” he said.

As for moisture content on the inside of the building, Winder said a good dehumidification system would be required.

Winder said a study is available that give a community a 90 per cent hard cost analysis prior to spending anything beyond the study itself. The study varies in price between $10,000 and $30,000.

“It gives you a document that’s got a contractor from Alberta that gets the pricing in place. It has my pricing structure in there, and has the pool pricing structure in there. All those are hard numbers the best we can estimate,” said Winder. “I think before you rush forward on a $10-15 million project, and hope you don’t have change orders that raise it any higher than that, I think you need to evaluate our alternative.”

Winder added if the Town and County can’t justify spending that much on a study, Sprung can provide a lower grade estimate without the contractor coming in.

During Winder’s presentation, he also shared the story of Collingwood, Ontario’s experience with a Sprung aquatic centre. The $4.5 million project was completed in a six-month timeframe in 2013.

“They wanted the energy efficiency it came with, they liked the cost of the project,” said Winder. “It was affordable for a community that’s not massively big.”

Barrhead Agrena Society president Shannon Carlson, who was present at the presentation, is not convinced Sprung is the way to go however. In fact, Carlson said the society had already looked into the possibility of a Sprung Structure two years ago, and decided not to proceed with it.

Carlson expressed his concern with Sprung Structures in an email to the County of Barrhead, in which he addressed several issues.

Regardless of whether the structure could be built on the site of the old pool, which it can’t due to the area required around the building for snow removal, Carlson said the yearly maintenance needed to remove the snow could cause problems if neglected.

The structure also has limitations with soft walls.

“They have addressed the exterior with metal to 8 ft., but the interior is difficult to attach to in the future,” wrote Carlson. “If you want to attach to it, it has to be pre-engineered to do so. Even pre-engineering would have it’s limitations as it is aluminum and styrofoam.”

Climate was another concern of Carlson’s. The freeze and thaw scenario in Barrhead could be a disaster with a three-foot deep footing, he said. Additionally, Carlson said he doesn’t think the high moisture content of a pool will bode well for the design of a Sprung product.

If the air exchange system is done properly it could be fine, said Carlson, however if it isn’t managed properly it could be a big problem.

Additionally, Carlson has doubts regarding the actual cost of Sprung’s proposed project and said the numbers seem “unrealistic.”

“It’s not possible that the firm we are using can be that far out with their estimates. If the numbers are that different we will be getting an inferior product,” he said. “The reason we picked BR2 Architecture is that they have a great track record for quality work throughout Alberta. Sprung Structures build buildings of all types and have teamed up with a firm that designs pools. BR2 only designs pools.”

Carlson said the Sprung system looks to have great value for other, less volatile types of projects and should not at all be discounted. However, he said he doesn’t think the pool project should go down this road.

“BR2 Architecture designs pools and uses the best components available to house the pool,” said Carlson. “Sprung has their building type, which they adapt to work for a pool.”