North Bay opens pre-qualifications for community and rec centre
The City of North Bay has officially begun the procurement process for the construction of a new community and recreation centre at the existing Steve Omischl Sports Complex on Lakeshore Drive.
The city issued a request for pre-qualifications for general contractors on February 16.
The purpose of the pre-qualification is to shortlist general contractors to manage and oversee the construction of the facility, featuring dual-pad ice surfaces, a walking track, multi-use change rooms to service year-round activities and a multi-purpose community hall.
The project itself is expected to cost somewhere between $30 million and $32.5 million. In 2019, the city selected a joint venture between Toronto’s MJMA Architects and North Bay’s Mitchell Jensen Architects to provide engineering and design services. The team released preliminary designs for the project in January of 2020, but the project stalled last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The architects created a trident design for the facility in an effort to consolidates a public space between two ice pads. Doing so cut down the size of the building, and reduced its projected budget by more than $6 million.
“The request for proposal document we looked at listed around 90,000 square feet of building program but when we compared that to the available budget, we thought maybe the area of the building would be one way we could target some efficiencies,” said Marc Downing of MJMA Architects. “Working with the stakeholder group, we found some spaces in the building that could function in a multi-use way. That is the way we looked at reducing the original area so we could get it more in line with the budget.”
The trident design provides for two NHL size ice pads, a second level walking track with elevator access, and 14 change rooms with the ability to combine some of the rooms to accommodate football teams.
The rink has seating for 250 to 300 spectators, while the practice pad can accommodate 100 to 150 people. The walking track can also serve as an added spectator space.
The deadline for the pre-qualification submission is March 15.