City moving ahead with Pan Am precinct rec centre

The city is moving ahead with the plan to build a stand-alone recreation centre in the Pan Am precinct, but how much it will cost, and when it will open, will be determined over the next month.

The city hopes to know more in October about the price tag for the multimillion-dollar facility, and when it will be completed, said Paul Johnson, director of neighbourhood development strategies. But it could take at least a couple of years. The city will either try to get it completed before the July, 2015 games, or wait until after to build it.

The city initially planned to partner with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board for a joint rec centre and high school atScott Park. The partnership fell apart, but the community centre is moving ahead.

Johnson gave an update on the project at a Pan Am precinct subcommittee meeting Tuesday morning. Staff will meet with neighbourhood residents in October to give an update and take ideas for the new centre, he said.

Were expecting to bring the community back together to have conversations on what this facility will look like, he said.

We need indoor space in this community, and the facilities there are beyond their useful life.

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The new centre will include a multi-lane pool and therapeutic area, a dance/fitness room and community rooms.

The initial price tag, which applied to the joint school board partnership, was $17 million.

Also at Tuesdays meeting, committee members heard an update on the $147.5-million Pan Am stadium.

Current work includes:

• Steel superstructure work is ongoing.
• The storm water management system is nearly completed.
• The deep underground plumbing is 80-per cent complete.
• Testing and inspection work is ongoing.

The stadium sign will read Terrain Tim Hortons Field, incorporating both French and English.