Sunny Life turns mouldy
Sunny Life turns mouldy
Wet drywall being replaced as rec centre construction continues
Mould and wet drywall that needs to be replaced will not delay the opening of the Sunny Life Wellness and Recreation Centre, Director of Community Services Peter Burnett assured Trent Hills council on Tuesday.
Councillor Rick English said that while attending the Campbellford Fair on the weekend he was swamped by a nasty rumour that problems with drywall at the new facility were going to delay its opening and force the town to reopen the Campbellford Arena this fall.
“Can you squash those rumours?” English asked Burnett.
“There is no squashing it,” he responded. “There has been some water damage from humidity in the building and the drywall is being replaced that needs to be replaced. It will be concluded this week. The rest of the project is continuing normally.”
In a report to council Burnett wrote: “Construction is now 82% complete and the target substantial completion date is September 2024.”
That schedule has not changed, Burnett said. In an interview after the meeting, he explained that water on the floor of the building, which had some open sections, damaged lower levels of drywall, especially in rooms that were closed so there was no air circulation. The contractor is responsible for the cost of repairs.
“We’re still waiting for hydro,” he told council. “We’re still waiting for natural gas. Everything else is moving along. The arena boards are going up, the pool is being tiled.”
Councillor Daniel Giddings, one of the owners of the Trent Hills Thunder, which will play at the arena, asked if there was any intent to put ice back in the old arena. “We’ve always had that as an option and we’re very fortunate that that’s the case,” Burnett said.
“We don’t have a final date when we’re going to be able to open,” he added. “Our goal is that we would be able to meet the current situation we’ve always had in Campbellford where in the middle of October or so we’d have ice in Campbellford and if we can’t meet that by a significant margin then we would be prepared to start Campbellford. We’d have to look at what we can accommodate in Warkworth and so on. There is significant costs to starting the arena and then shutting it down again, so it’s the last thing that we want to do.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to stay on the current schedule so that we don’t have to open Campbellford for a month or something like that.”
Burnett’s report showed that the budgeted cost of the recreation centre is $22.7 million. It identified $19 million in funding from various sources. So far, $18.6 million has been spent on construction.