Committee determined to press forward on Queens Place

The Queens Place committee met on Dec. 7 to discuss the ongoing developments of the recreation facility. While there was no news from the province, one thing was certain at the meeting: the committee is determined to see Queens Place built.

In Oct. it was reported the future of Queens Place was in question, after the provincial government refused to add another $2 million to the $5 million already committed to the project. The federal government has pledged 1/3 of the project for a total of $7 million, but if the provincial government doesn’t meet the 1/3 requirement, the federal contribution will have to drop.

Mayor John Leefe and Chief Administrative Officer David Clattenburg met with Premier Darrel Dexter and staff on Nov. 25 to present their case.

Mayor Leefe says they presented alternatives for the province that could work in both their favours, and still get Queens Place built. He didn’t elaborate further, preferring to wait until the decision was made.

The Region is hoping to have an answer from the provincial government by the next Queens Place meeting on Jan. 5.

Until that time thought they are continuing with the development process, and address a few rumors going around the community.

Clattenburg said there are stories that would lead people to believe all things are on hold. In fact they are not, and work has not even slowed on the development. “If we had $30 million in the bank right now, the process would not be any faster than it is currently.”

The Region is continuing with the Design and development stage, with the next level of architectural designs presented to the committee.

On Dec. 18, the Region will receive a class B estimate, which will also conclude the design development process. This estimate will give the Region the closest estimate of the final costs.

A Class-A estimate is what comes back in response to a call for tenders on a project.

There was also talk of revitalizing the fundraising campaign, although the general consensus was they needed three pieces of information before moving forward.

1. The Class B estimate

2. The response from province

3. Council must green light the architects to do the full drawings and tender documents “It’s essential the public understands where we are and where we are going to. Until they see the project is going ahead, people are not going to give for something they’re not sure of,” says Mayor Leefe. “Once we have taken those three steps, we will be in the right position to launch a successful fundraising campaign.”

Norm Amirault, Director of Recreation at the Region of Queens gave a rough timeline that if things continue as they are, they are about two years out from opening the doors.

There was also time to hear from the general public. Bill Cox raised the concern that since Bridgewater’s Recreation Centre is now fully funded, they could possibly open before Queens Place. He was worried if they open first Queens Co. would loose groups who would normally use local ice.

However Clattenburg responded that our process is much further ahead so assuming things are a go, Queens Place will open before Bridgewater.

In the design schematics the committee members saw some minor changes made to the drawings, including provisions for a Youth Centre, and a change room for officials both male and female.

Another interesting note was some of the infrastructure would stay in place for future expansion of Queens Place, specifically to the aquatics centre

nmoase@theadvance.ca