York Arena delayed again, now slated to open fall 2016

The reopening of the York Arena is once again on hold.

It will be October 2016, at the earliest, before skaters can take to the ice again.

On Friday, the city of Fredericton announced that lead removal from the building istaking longerthan anticipated, and with the impending colder weather things will slow further.

In a statement, the city said work will continue until Christmas, then start again at the end of March, weather permitting.

Once back on site,there will still be four months of work left to do to remove lead and upgrade the facility to make it structurally safe for public use.

As a result, the arena is not expected to reopen again to the public until next year's fall and winter skating season.

"As frustrating as it is for ice users in Fredericton, it has taken much longer than expected to remove the lead paint to perform the structural work in the arena," said Dylan Gamble, Director, Engineering & Operations.

"This is a significant safety concern and the contractors must take the time required to do this right.The warm weather of August and September slowed the process of removing the lead paint and the cold weather will slow down all construction operations even more."

The City of Fredericton awarded thecontract to Springhill Construction Ltd.in March for $2,185,420, including HST, to upgrade the York Arena.

Lead was discovered in the building in Mayand work on the site stopped.

Contractors and consultants, specializing in lead removal, were hired to make the building safe for construction to continue.

The city said the delay is not expected to push the project over budget.