New $18M Simmons Sports Centre design good start, but room for improvement, residents say

The new $18-million Simmons Sports Centre will feature an NHL-sizeice surface, new outdoor pool,walking track andmultipurpose room.

It will also use state-of-the-art technology to make it much more energy efficient.

The concept design was presented at an open house Tuesday evening at the current arena in Charlottetown. The city said it will consider feedback from the public before going to the final design.

The new building will be located beside the existing building, set back further from North River Road. The existing building will remain in use while the new building is constructed.

It is expected to be complete by September, 2022. The old building will be demolished and turned into green space, said Coun. Terry Bernard, chair of the city's parks and recreation committee

"Overall, I think a lot of people will be pleased with the new facility when it's completed."

Other features include six new dressing rooms near the ice surface, and two large changing rooms with 25 lockers each near the multipurpose room.

Warming room

There will be seating on the second level, as well a warming room with 100 seats. It will be accessible by stairs and an elevator.

Tennis courts, a beach volleyball court and a roof over the pool, which some residents had hoped for, werenot part of the design. Some at the open house said they want the complex to be used for more than just ice sports.

One thing is for certain, Bernard said, it will be an improvement over the existing complex, which is about 50 years old and in need of replacement.

"We have frost underneath the floor that's lifting the floor now, we've had the pool that's been leaking for years, it's getting underneath the main beams, starting to rot out the main beams that carry the building so it's time to replace it," he said.

Bernard said the city has applied for funding through the Investment Canada Infrastructure Program, a federal and provincial initiative, that would cover up to 74 per cent of the cost.

Environmentally friendly

Ian Storey of I.B. Storey Inc., the official rink engineering consultant of the NHL, said the new Simmons design uses solar power, high efficiency LED lights and other technology to make it sustainable and environmentally friendly.

"This system will feature oil-less compressor systems so there's now no oil to buy, no oil to change, no oil to drain, no oil to throw away. Those types of things, embedded layer upon layer in the new facility, will make a huge difference in the next 50 years."

The future of the arena was up in the air as recently as last year, when the city considered building a new ice surface at the University of Prince Edward Island. When that was deemed unfeasible, it decided to build the new complex at the existing site.

That was welcome news for a community group that lobbied the city to save the arena and offered suggestions on the design.

'Good milestone'

Olin Penna, one of the group's founders, said the design is a "good start." He was impressed from a technology and environmental standpoint, but said parts of the layout are not quite what some user groups envisioned.

"It's a good milestone for, I think, our whole community to reach. But I think there are some improvements that we can make along the way between now and and when the bulldozers show up," said Penna.

"I think we can connectand kind of make this all a lot better for everyone."

Penna said he hopes when it's complete, it will have more natural light and be more inviting than the traditional "dark, dungy rink."

"Just more of a gathering place where everyone can come rather than the ones we have now," he said.

"In the new design they're looking at incorporating some aspects of the natural light, but my expectation was getting more light into the building. But I'm happy with what they have so far."

Penna said it is encouraging just to see the project moving forward.

"You're talking about generations of youth and student athletes and even seniors that would use a facility like this. It was a true community need and it was a true community voice that came forward and to save this, and that part I'm really proud about."

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