Council considering $51M for new rec complex

At Tuesday night's council meeting, the costs were revealed comparing a new recreation complex with maintaining the old ones in the city.

A committee had been looking at what it would cost to maintain existing facilities for 20 years, and the total is $31,446,058. A new facility would cost $46,824,500 to build and another $9,506,450 over 20 years to operate.

The breakdown of the costs to run existing facilities looks like this:

Miramichi Civic Centre

Functional Upgrades $260,000

Conditional Upgrades $2,475,700

Capital Improvements $3,553,000

Lindon Rec Centre

Functional Upgrades $0

Conditional Upgrades $601,100

Capital Improvements $551,000

Operational Costs $4,121,755

Lord Beaverbrook Arena

Functional Upgrades $305,100

Conditional Upgrades $2,689,700

Capital Improvements $1,599,900

Operational Costs $1,035,723

Golden Hawk Complex

Functional Upgrades $266,200

Conditional Upgrades $1,957,300

Capital Improvements $2,416,900

Operational Costs $2,916,852

Chatham Outdoor Pool

Functional Upgrades $266,200

Conditional Upgrades $97,300

Capital Improvements $128,900

Operational Costs $278,044

Kinsmen Outdoor Pool

Functional Upgrades $33,000

Conditional Upgrades $123,900

Capital Improvements $137,200

Operational Costs $368,012

Miramichi Valley High Pool

Functional Upgrades $774,400

Conditional Upgrades $574,100

Capital Improvements $402,100

Operational Costs $272,616

Council said that the age of the existing buildings might mean the actual costs could be higher, as they suggested the old structures might be hiding some of their problems, and costs to keep the buildings structural safe could be higher than anyone thinks.

Councillor Joan Cripps was one of the councillors to sit on the committee that looked at the possibility of fixing existing infrastructure or building something new. She said she thought a new facility was the way to go.

"I'm looking forward to moving forward. I maybe not have too many years left but anyhow, whatever I have I hope I can see this structure go up." Cripps said she hoped the new structure had an indoor walking track.

Councillor Peggy McLean agreed that a new structure made more economical sense to her.

"If we're going to make a 15 to 20 million dollar investment and still end up with the same aged facilities, to me that's not good use of taxpayer's money," McLean said.

Bill Fleiger also agreed. He hoped that with federal and provincial contributions, council could tell residents that the new complex would cost them an extra $100 on their tax bill annually.

The city has earmarked $200,000 for further study in 2015, and City Manager Mike Noel said there are several financing options like asking federal and provincial governments for money, as well selling the naming rights to the facility to private companies.

The projected costs don't include finding a location for the complex. Surely everyone will have an opinion about that.