LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County officials have allocated more than $20 million for various recreation projects in the area this year from the 2022 municipal budget. The Bold Center Sports Field projects, which currently has a total of $5.4 million in allocated funds to be utilized for the third phase of its development, will have many projects moving forward, said Darrell Lessmeister, the County’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Recreation and Community Services.
The third phase of the project includes creating bleachers with a 500-seat capacity, a media booth and scoreboard screens on the sports field. All three of those projects will be moving forward this summer, he says,in addition to a bathroom facility near the field and groundwork for adjacent tennis and basketball courts. The price tag so far, is just under $4 million for this year’s additions.
Changes
One of those additions planned for this year, however, has seen a change of plans due to a significant change in cost.
The cost of a planned 6,000 square foot change-room facility at the sports fields has jumped from a $1.5 million to more than $4 million since the concept was first drawn up three years ago. The almost triple-price increase is due to increases in material costs, says Lessmeister.
“We were looking at 6,000 square feet at $350 per square foot. At that time in 2018 and in 2019 that was reasonable. Unfortunately with COVID, a lot of things have happened in the construction industry in the last couple of years, that has increased to $675 a square foot, which unfortunately at this present moment is looking closer to an over $4 million project.”
"In the meantime, we’ll have to cross our fingers and wait.”
Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov on the possible spending of some Sports Field upgrades
A new potential plan that may see some expansions and upgrades inside the Bold Center for new change-room locations is an option that is expected to provide greater costs savings, said Lessmeister.
Municipal councillors are cautious about all spending in the near future. With an estimated $27 million being collected for a new aquatic centre, councillors are watching the dollars on all projects very closely.
"We have a lot of capital projects and I’m anticipating every one of them is going to be over budget with inflation and costs, so we got to be careful how much we bite off at the moment,” said Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov.
Future plans
Earlier this month council debated on possibly hosting the 2026 Alberta Summer Games. The Games which could draw more than 3,000 athletes and guests from across the province for four days of various sporting competitions have the potential to provide upwards of $3 million for the host municipality. While the municipality would likely need to build some more sporting infrastructure to host the event, officials say it is a possibility. With the promise of that kind of revenue, the change-room idea could come back to the decision table. But for now, the price does not warrant the build.
“As much as I would like to see this, but at the cost that we can do it today, it's too much…As time goes on and as we get more sports and activities—I'm hoping in the future here we get a football team—we’ll hopefully have that in place,” said Lessmeister.
While council nixed construction for the sports field change-room now, it is still part of future planning.
Things can change, says the mayor.
“I think we can get by for now…I do agree that we should perhaps go after the Summer Games, if we are successful, then it warrants construction to this level. In the meantime, we’ll have to cross our fingers and wait.”
