Although from the outside it doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot of progress being made on the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre, that’s just because the work is now all being done on the inside of the facility.
The project has passed the 50 per cent completion mark, site supervisor John Dickhaut said, and the inside of the facility is really beginning to take shape.
“Everything’s going smooth,” he said. “We’re making a lot of progress in good time.”
The building is now just weeks away from being completely enclosed, and the steel stud framing inside the facility is all but complete.
What’s still remaining is mostly the finishing work, which is expected to be completed throughout the winter in time for the facility to open in the spring.
“Moving into the finishing stages is always a big accomplishment, once you start putting paint on the walls,” Dickhaut said. “Probably by the end of the month I’m going to have tilers on site.”
Work will also begin on wall finishes, such as the fiberglass reinforced panels for the change rooms.
On the outside of the building, the bulk of the site work has been complete, with the asphalt and all services in place. There is just a small portion of asphalt still left to be laid.
While some areas of the facility appear to be mostly complete, such as a the combative sports area and the fitness room, the main attraction will be left until nearly the end — the arena floor will be one of the last items to be installed.
“That’s one of the things we have to keep right until the very end, so we’re not driving any equipment over it,” Dickhaut said. “Because of the pipe work that goes underneath it to create the ice, I’m not going to take any chances.”
Town CAO Darrell Garceau said the last of the sub-contracts for work in the Spirit Centre were awarded just a few weeks ago, and he does not anticipate any cost overruns from the approximately $15 million budget set out after the town was forced to switch contractors.
Balon Construction was initially contracted to build the facility for just over $12 million, but when that company went into receivership the town had to hire a new construction management company and re-award many of the contracts, causing the price to balloon by several million.
Garceau added the town is pleased with the work done by Brenex, and in particular by Dickhaut as the site supervisor.
Videos of the progress being made inside the facility can be seen on the town’s YouTube page at www.youtube.com/user/TownofWestlock.
