The upgrades to the arena floor at the Castlegar and District Community Complex is two months ahead of schedule.
The arena floor was originally planned to be under repair until Oct. 15 of this year, but a media release has stated that the project is ahead of schedule and will be completed by Aug. 9.
In the media release, RDCK regional manager Craig Stanley said the early completion date is because they were able to avoid all the potential issues that could’ve arisen with a project like this.
“With this type of project there are a number of potential issues or hidden hazards that could show up, but fortunately we were able to avoid all of them. This is the best outcome we could expect, which will allow us to have a normal start to the fall season.”
Residents who use the arena were informed of the news at the ice users meeting on June 15.
“This is fabulous news, especially for all the ice users,” said Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff, chair of the Castlegar and District Recreation Commission. “When you start a project of this magnitude you hope that it is completed on time and on budget – so you can imagine the commissioners reaction when we were told it would be finished two months ahead of schedule.”
The Castlegar and District Community Complex arena floor was originally installed in 1976 and has outlived its intended life span of 35-40 years. The total budget for the project is $1.644 million.
Crews will be pouring the cooling floor concrete on June 20. Community members are invited to join them at the arena at 8 a.m. to view the site.