The Village of Burns Lake has awarded the construction of the multi-use facility expansion project to Venture Pacific Construction Management (VPCM) and Bruce Carscadden Architect Inc. The expansion will join the arena and the curling rink to create an enhanced facility appropriate for many types of recreation, sporting and cultural events.
Mayor Strimbold told the Lakes District News that the community could expect three different artist renderings to be available for consideration in early October. The village council will then determine which project to proceed with. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2013. Mayor Strimbold is confident that preference will be given to local contractors where possible.
This project is being funded primarily by a provincial Community Recreation Grant fund which the village applied for in December 2012. The grant totals $2.4 million with the balance of the $2.9 million project being covered by contributions from the Village of Burns Lake, the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, the Northern Development Initiative Trust, and the Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund.
Vancouver Pacific Construction Management has been involved with many large recreation facility projects in Northern B.C., including the Chetwynd Recreation Retrofit, the Houston Aquatic Centre, the Terrace arena addition and the Kitimat Aquatic Centre. The Village of Burns Lake will determine the procurement protocol regarding qualifications, and bid or bond securities. As early as January 2013, VPCM will issue calls for tender that are designed to be manageable for local trades and suppliers.
Finding qualified local trades in small centres can be difficult. “Sometimes the local trades don’t have the manpower and sometimes there may not be a local contractor to match the needs of a particular project,” says Mark Van Ek, principal of VPCM. “But we still try to package it in such a way that we solicit the locals as much as possible.”