Upgrades to Jim Ciccone Civic Centre are expected to come this year, as the City of Prince Rupert has put five projects up for bids on the BC Bid website.
Among the five opportunities companies can bid for on the site include the arena lighting and ceiling, auditorium flooring, accessibility upgrades in the civic and aquatic centre, and washrooms in the complex.
“These priorities for improvements were chosen largely in part because of the age and condition of the assets, which took a back seat in importance during past economic downturns,” Veronika Stewart, communications manager for the City, said.
“As the City puts into place our new asset management strategy, our respective departments are making it a priority to conduct the necessary upgrades to aging assets,” she said in an email on Friday.
Stewart said the city is also using the opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of the civic centre, as well as increasing accessibility for residents in order to improve the overall user experience.
“Additionally, we have been actively applying for grant funds and employing other cost-saving measures in order to minimize the impact to the taxpayer,” Stewart said.
As an example, she cited the accessibility project, which will be made possible by the Rick Hansen Foundation Access4All Canada 150 Signature Initiative, which is a program supported by the Government of Canada.
“We recognize that accessibility, especially, is a priority for our community and we are working to ensure that recreation opportunities are available for everyone,” she said.
Details about each of the projects is available on the BC Bid website. For the accessibility upgrades, the City is seeking to install two platform chair lifts to access the second floors of each section of the aquatic and civic centre buildings, as well as automatic door openers and a removable sloped ramp complete with hand rails in the second floor corridor of the arena building.
The arena lighting will also be upgraded, going from the current Hi-Bay lighting system to high-efficient LED lights. The City is also accepting proposals to build a Low E ceiling in the arena, which will help reduce energy usage for the ice rink. Low E ceilings are known to improve lighting levels by 20 to 30 per cent, enhance acoustics and rink appearance, and improve ice quality.
The project for the auditorium flooring includes the supply and installation of cushioned vinyl sport surfacing, which will help increase resistance and provide easy maintenance.
Finally, the washrooms in the recreation complex will also be upgraded. The project says the successful bidder will replace all countertops, urinals, toilets, sinks and faucets in the two washrooms. The toilets, urinals and faucets will be converted to have automatic sensors.
One of the existing stalls will be made into an accessible stall as well.
“Once the bids for the projects close, the City will review the bids in order to determine the most appropriate candidate for the work,” Stewart said.
All five of the projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2017.