Propping up the old Civic

Kate Bouey - CASTANET / 6:00 pm
How can Vernon keep Civic Arena running even if a new ice sheet becomes a reality? That was the question to recreation facilities co-ordinator Jim Coughlin from city council on Monday. “It will have to last two to three more years even if (the referendum) passes,” Coun. Catherine Lord said. Greater Vernon residents will be asked in a Nov. 28 referendum to allow the North Okanagan Regional District to borrow $13.25 million for the twinning of Kal Tire Place. “It's all money-related,” Coughlin told council, comparing the Civic to a rusty car that could be rebuilt if enough money is spent on it.

Coughlin listed infrastructure that had been repaired yet continued to cause problems and other issues that are being tackled, including:

cracking top chord truss
cracks in perimeter concrete walls
roof joists/wall connections
code and safety items
west washroom repairs
north mechanical room water leak
dressing room toilets
arena seat heater shields/exhaust fans
north dressing room exhaust fan
1938 electrical system
emergency lighting upgrades and repairs
fire alarm panel upgrades
The cost for those repairs amounts to $52,000, according to a release. But Lord called them patchwork fixes, pointing to a 2014 report that said $5.6 million was needed to properly upgrade the 78-year-old arena – and “that is for it lasting only five to 10 years.” “Every time they go in to repair something, they discover something else,” said Lord. “We need to put a whole new building together for a second ice sheet.” Meanwhile, council has appointed Lord and Mayor Akbal Mund to meet with the Vernon farmers' market board of directors to determine an alternate location for the market, should a borrowing referendum be successful. Lord says the parking lot outside the recreation centre is one possibility. “We want to hear first hand what their concerns are and then see if we can deal with them and see if we can come up with something that they're going to be a little bit happy with,” Lord said. “They're not going to be happy with anything because they are going to be relocated, but we're going to try to make it as easy as possible,” she admitted.