(File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

North Battleford council

Don Ross Arena to see improvements with city savings

Apr 14, 2022 | 4:00 PM

The City of North Battleford will be adding more bleachers and more heat to the Don Ross Centre Arena with savings it found from other budgeted items.

Initially the city planned to install another exterior emergency exit to the facility and replace and install a new score clock.

Fleet and Maintenance manager Seton Winterholt said after making further enquiries following a capacity review of city facilities, it was determined the existing emergency exits are sufficient for the number of people in the arena. So the funds for the project could be allotted elsewhere.

For the score clock purchase, the city found a clock of similar size to the existing one. So there is no need to replace the protective covering, and mounts, just the score clock itself, thus lowering the cost for the project. There is also no need for extra engineering costs for the installation.

With the savings from these initiatives, the city will add another set of bleachers to accommodate about 130 to 140 more people into the arena.

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Winterholt noted even with the added bleachers there is no need to add another egress as the current emergency exits will be able to handle an extra 300 people for the capacity.

“We still have more than adequate emergency exit coverage with the existing emergency exit without having to add more,” he said.

The city will also be able to use some of the remaining savings to add more heat to the arena area of the facility, and improve the controls on the exhaust. This will help manage the humidity in the arena and reduce ice dripping from the steel beams that happens occasionally. It will also help reduce the likelihood of the glass at the arena fogging up during games.

Winterholt said all this will improve the spectators’ experience.

“We should be able to do it all within the existing budget for the score clock and the emergency exit installation,” he said.

Council approved administration’s proposed resolution to purchase a new arena score clock for $12,500. As well, it authorized reallocating the existing emergency exit budgeted fund for $25,000 and the score clock replacement budget savings to pay for the construction and installation of the new bleachers and HVAC system improvements.

After the score clock, bleachers and HVAC improvements, there will still be $600 left in the budget as surplus.

Coun. Kelli Hawtin supported the new proposal but questioned how the city “missed the mark” in budgeting appropriately for the score clock purchase and installation, and the new emergency exit installation originally proposed.

Winterholt said on the score clock issue, initially administration expected it would have to incur added costs for engineering, installation and protective casing, which was factored into the budget.

He said the budget for the emergency doors was based on a recommendation that came from a report on the capacity of the arena. When the city furthered enquired on where the doors should be installed they were advised there was an error in the original report. So the additional exit was not required.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow