Consultant to study Thunder Bay’s arena network
The city is hiring a consultant to study its arenas and draw up a plan to guide reinvestment, modernization and possibly consolidation of the indoor rink portfolio over the next 15 years.
In a request for proposals (RFP), the tasks assigned to the consultant include developing and analyzing options for:
- repurposing or closure of arenas with associated justification
- construction of “a new premium spectator rink” to replace Fort William Gardens
- renewal or reinvestment in existing facilities
- consolidation or co-location into multi-pad or multi-purpose community hubs
Thunder Bay has seven arenas ranging from 75 to 30 years in age.
The oldest and largest facility, the Fort William Gardens, was built in 1951 and renovated in 1994.
In recent years the city has allocated millions of dollars for upgrades to the building.
“Despite ongoing maintenance and energy efficiency improvements, many mechanical and electrical systems are beyond their service life,” the RFP states.
Kelvin Jankowski, manager of capital facilities construction, said various retrofits are currently projected to keep it in operation for at least another 10 years, after which additional reinvestment would be required to continue operating the 3,400 seat facility.
The RFP describes the Gardens as a key community venue but one that will need “major reinvestment or replacement as the city advances plans for a new Multiplex Centre.”
The other facilities to be studied include:
- Neebing Arena – constructed in 1969
- Grandview Arena – constructed in 1968
- Current RIver Arena – constructed in 1975
- Delaney Arena – constructed in 1968
- Tournament Centre – twin-pad facility constructed in 1995
- Port Arthur Arena – constructed in 1963 and substantially renovated in 2002-2005
Jankowski said the city initially set out to study the feasibility of adding a second pad at the PA Arena.
“As we were kind of delving into that, we were coming to a point where the Recreation, Parks and Facilities Master Plan is to be updated. We thought rather than just look at the one arena and the one area, we would look at the entire portfolio to guide future investment in arena facilities.”
The consultant will develop a renewal strategy for all seven sites to cover the period 2026 to 2041.
“The strategy will evaluate the condition, functionality and sustainability of existing facilities, align arena services with community needs and demographic trends, and provide an evidence-based capital investment roadmap,” the RFP states.
Stakeholders to be consulted in the process include user groups, Indigenous and accessibility partners, post-secondary institutions, private operators and event hosts.
Input will also be sought from emerging sport organizations, community groups and recreation partners “to identify potential shared-use and multi-purpose opportunities.”
Janklowski said “This is a good exercise. Over the years we’ve looked at, just from a pure asset renewal strategy, making sure that ice plants were safe and operational, life safety was up to date. We’re getting to a point now where a lot of our buildings are coming to end-of-life, and they’re going to need major reinvestment. This is an appropriate time to evaluate the entire portfolio and see what makes sense from a reinvestment or consolidation or divestment strategy.”
The contract for the project is expected to be awarded in January. – tbnewswatch.com
article website here
If my memory is correct, is something like this has happened before . Not that long ago.
City Hall did not go along with the recommendations.
Recreation master plan draft names winners and losers
The following is a blast from the past.