THUNDER BAY — Upgrades and renovations continue at the Canada Games Complex.
Work at the Complex started at the beginning of June to make several upgrades across the building, including a new, gender-neutral, barrier-free washroom, a fully accessible change room that features an adult change table, and updating both male and female change rooms.
Kelvin Jankowski, the city's supervisor of capital facilities construction, said the project is currently within budget and running on time.
"The Canada Games Complex staff is looking to open around Thanksgiving weekend either just before or just after," Jankowski said, while also noting some typical hiccups during the process. "The contractors have been excellent to work with and short of some staffing issues, which is an endemic issue with construction across the city, it's all gone really well."
The project had a $3-million price tag, with 80 per cent of that covered by the federal government through Ottawa's Green and Inclusive Community Building Fund.
Of the work that isn't visible to patrons is a brand new boiler system that is expected to cut net annual greenhouse gas emissions by 276 tonnes and reduce utility costs by $128,000 a year.
"Ultimately, the energy savings, which is substantial with this project, is in large part because of the new control system," Jankowski said. "The control system will be able to be monitored by our facility staff and tweaked automatically as we see things come across on the computer."
The only anticipated delay is with the Quebec room, one of the facility's multi-purpose fitness rooms, and its HVAC, which can be done with minimal to no interruption to regular services at the Complex. This work is expected to happen in March 2024.
