LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County council is taking another dive into the Aquatic Center’s concept slated for construction next year, in the late summer. The project that currently has a budget of $27 million, includes $6 million in funding from the federal government and $9 million provincially through grant programs, said Darrell Lessmeister, Lac La Biche County’s Chief Administrative Officer of Recreation and Community Services.
The recreation boss’s update was heard at last week’s special meeting of Lac La Biche County council, just prior to municipal administrators planning out the formula needed to pay the remaining $12 million for the project.
That additional funding, needed to cover the wish-list concepts to the facility that were suggested in several rounds of public consultations earlier this year, are being tabulated by county officials this week.
The amenities projected to be included in the final plan thus far, are a 25 meter, six-lane competition pool, a large leisure pool for all ages and skills, a sauna and steam room, recreation rooms for large gatherings, water slides, viewing areas, a lazy river and an indoor beach area.
Budget Issues
While the project’s deadline to finalize the concept approaches this April, the debate about the projected $27 million price tag—which started as a $15 million facility last year—is causing some elected officials to question whether a basic facility that would fulfill basic community needs would do, as opposed to a more expansive option that would fill community needs for years to come.
Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov said he heard a lot of comments about the price tag during the recent election campaign and in his first few weeks in office.
“We need to be reasonable; that’s the largest concern that I keep hearing is that. It was originally discussed—you know—15, 18 million and now it’s $30 million. Where does this end?” he questioned Lessmeister.
The push to design the current, feature-laden concept, said Lessmeister, was after countless consultations with the community and assessing other comparable facilities.
Coun. Lorin Tkachuk took part in those trips to see other facilities, like neighbouring Athabasca. Getting ideas, hearing what works and what doesn’t — and most importantly, hearing from officials in other communities who had regrets they didn’t build bigger facilities — were all part of the long consultation and information process. While he says the current price tag is high, it’s not unreasonable for all of the features that will serve community needs.
“That $27 million range is good for me—I don’t want to go over that. I’d be a little bit less for going under it because we had those meetings with Athabasca in the past, the things that they said; don’t make these mistakes,” said Tkachuk, after expressing the need to get it right the first time.
Returning in the New Year
Prior to the October municipal election, the aquatic facility planning was on track. But with new questions arising from new council members, decisions will have to be made quickly, as planning time for construction season next year is a very tight window.
Design concepts are already in place for the new aquatic centre, and are expected to be finalized early in the new year, said County CAO Ken Van Buul, reminding council that decisions need to be settled in a timely manner to meet construction deadline approaches in the late summer.
“That’s going to happen in the next couple of months; we’ll bring those concepts back, but to get shovels in the ground before the snow starts flying in 2022 and get this design ... we don’t have six, eight to nine months to do that.”
The new aquatic centre will be constructed on the southeast corner of the Bold Center and utilize heat-recovery energy systems from existing utilities. The new centre will replace the aging Portage Pool that was constructed in 1989.
