A critical piece of the construction process for the new Martensville Community Recreation Centre (MCRC) on the west side of Highway 12 began earlier this month.
Work on installation of water and sewer lines to the facility commenced March 14 following a pre-construction meeting between Martensville city officials and the contractor, Acadia Construction.
The information was contained in a report to a Martensville City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 19. According to the report, the installation work is expected to be completed on schedule.
At the March 19 meeting, Martensville City Council also voted to approve an additional $300,000 investment, over and above the $1 million previously allocated in the city’s 2024 budget, for equipment, furniture and fixtures needed for the facility.
The total cost of $1.3 million is expected to be financed by the city through long-term debt.
A report from the city’s Recreation and Community Services department to the meeting indicated that a list of the additional required items was compiled as a result of recent meetings between city officials and Nustadia Recreation, the company contracted to assist with the pre-opening of the MCRC.
Nustadia Recreation has also been selected as the contractor to operate the facility once it opens later this year.
According to the report to council, the additional necessary items were not included in the cost of the base build of the building. These items are required for the day to day operations of the facility, and needed to ensure that programming at the MCRC is successful.
The list includes equipment needed for: emergency health and safety, ice resurfacing, offices, cleaning, security systems, indoor playground and field house.
The $44.5 million MCRC facility includes a full-size ice arena with seating for 900 spectators, a full-size soccer pitch, a climbing wall, indoor playground, retail space, lounge, pro shop and four batting cages.
SNOW REMOVAL PROGRESS
Public works crews continue to make progress in removing snow piles from Martensville roadways.
The snowstorm in early March dumped over 40 centimeters of the white stuff in the region. City crews mobilized extra equipment and worked extended hours to clear streets. A report to the Martensville City Council meeting on March 19 noted that the first pass of every road focused on ensuring access; but because of the high volume of snow, crews also had to complete some pickup simultaneously with grading operations.
As of March 19, the public works department has removed snow from the main arterials and connectors, and was now well into pickup on residential streets. Some roads had to be regarded because of severe rutting.
In addition to snow removal, crews also had to deal with surface flooding on some streets as the snow melted quickly in the immediate aftermath of the storm.
“Efforts have been made to thaw and open culverts and drainage routes,” stated a public works report to the March 19 city council meeting. “Unfortunately due to the timing of this warm weather so close to the recent snowfall, it was not possible to remove all stockpiled snow prior to the melting. Our crews are continuing to perform drainage and ice control work where necessary.”