Project manager hired for $23m Penticton pool upgrade

JOHN MOORHOUSE 11/27/2009 Penticton Herald:
Penticton city council has hired a Vancouver firm as project managers for the $23-million upgrade and expansion of the community centre pool. Council awarded a $315,000 contract to Pivotal Projects Inc. to combine project management and cost consultant duties on the project. The company will team up with Spiegel Skillen and Associates of Kelowna. They were chosen from among seven firms which had responded to a request for proposals. When the cost consultant component was added, the Pivotal bid was deemed to be the lowest overall and below the budgeted figure of $392,000. John Kirbyson, the city‘s director of parks, recreation and culture, said the pool upgradet is still scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2011. The architects are expected to be hired in early December. “It is on a fast track, so we‘re pushing hard to meet that deadline,” he said. “That‘s the requirement in the grant.”

It was announced in September that Penticton would receive a $15.2-million federal-provincial grant under the Building Canada Fund. Although the city has yet to formally sign the contribution agreement with the two senior governments, Kirbyson said that shouldn‘t slow down the process. “We may issue some (construction) contracts early in the process rather than design everything and go for one tender,” he said. “To meet the schedule, we‘re looking at putting up several different contracts, perhaps earlier, to get going.” Kirbyson added the hiring of the project managers should mark a more visible upswing in the project. “I think the community had the perception that something should have happened sooner. They weren‘t seeing anything visible happening,” he said. “But we‘ve been on the scene full blast since the announcement of the award from the government for the grant.”

The aquatic centre expansion includes a new family leisure pool to be added to the east of the existing pool, which would then be enlarged to a 10-lane, 25-metre facility. Larger change rooms and an improved public viewing area are also planned. Kirbyson declined to speculate when construction might begin. It‘s expected the existing pool will be closed for at least a couple of months during the construction period. “Partly what we‘re doing is rebuilding that existing tank, so there will be a period of time where it will be closed,” he said. A more detailed schedule will be available following the hiring of the architectural team. By getting contracts out now, Kirbyson added, the city may be able to take advantage of any price breaks during the economic downturn.