Riverview gets updated look at recreation centre with pool, field house
Estimated cost ranges from $37M to $45M with town hoping for provincial, federal funding
Riverview has new designs and a revised cost estimate for its proposed recreation centre, but there's still no clear answer on whether it will get funded by the federal and provincial governments.
The southeast New Brunswick town began planning for a new centre almost a decade ago. New designs were presented to Riverview councillors at a committee meeting late last month.
The town envisions a pool, walking track, field house and fitness centre in the building off Bridgedale Boulevard near an entrance to the Mill Creek Nature Park.
"This really is now bringing it into perspective of what it look like, feel like, the interior exterior spaces, the site plan, it's all encompassed in that," David Shea, the town's director of parks, recreation and community relations, said in an interview last week.
WATCH | Take a look at Riverview's planned recreation centre:
Representatives from MJMA Architecture & Design and Acre Architects outlined the plans for the 5,588-square-metre building.
The field house would have two side-by-side basketball courts, where an artificial turf field could be rolled out for other sports.
The aquatic centre would feature a 25-metre, eight-lane pool with adjacent leisure pool. It will replace the town's Pat Crossman Memorial Aquatic Centre.
Town councillors this fall also voted to add small fitness centre with weights and some equipment.
The cost is now estimated to range from $37.3 million to $45.7 million, with a more precise figure expected once design work is finished.
The town hopes the province and federal governments will cover about 60 per cent of the cost through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Fund.
Earlier this year, town officials said work on the centre had been paused while waiting on a funding decision. Councillors then voted to go ahead with further design work.
A spokesperson for Infrastructure Canada told CBC News at the time that the federal department had yet to receive an application, which would come from the province under a joint funding agreement for the program signed in 2018.
Last Tuesday, CBC asked the province two questions: Whether it has made a decision on funding the recreation centre, and if not, when that decision will be made. The province did not answer the questions by the end of the week.
Shea said the designers sought to emphasize the park in the building's design.
"A couple of key pillars they built in was to keep the nature park as intact as possible, to select the least disturbed forest, but also to bring people into the forest," Shea said.
"So some of those areas include a overlooking porch, where at that elevation, you could really look out over the nature park tree-canopy sight glass through the facility. So you'd enter that warm welcoming lobby, but you can still see the forest in the backdrop."
The plans also indicate that a future expansion could be added to the west.
A snow-dump site near the roundabout on Bridgedale Boulevard could also be used in the future as an outdoor turf field.
Shea said site clearing work will take place next year. He said the town hopes to know about funding early in the new year.
Councillors would still need to cast several more votes before construction would begin.
Ideally, he said the doors to the building would open in late 2025.
"We're certainly looking forward to the next steps, slash super paranoid about the finances, but that's alright, we'll get there," Mayor Andrew LeBlanc said after the designs were presented last month.
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