Norwich eyes arena improvements

Luke Edwards, Post Contributor

Norwich Township will seek outside help to determine how best to replace failing boiler systems in the arena at the community centre, all in an effort to extend the life of the building.

Councillors supported a staff recommendation at the March 10 council meeting to hire a mechanical engineer/hydronics specialist to determine the appropriate scope and needs for the boiler replacement project. The specialist will consider things like size, configuration, venting pathways, water-quality mitigation and flushing requirements. They’ll also provide a budget estimate for tender.

“I’m not one to always hire contractors but I think this is one of those situations where we may need to turn to an expert,” said Coun. Shawn Gear, adding the township should be looking at ways to keep the arena operational as long as possible since new arenas are costly.

The boilers in the arena’s north-end system have been in a declining state for a few years, and a staff report said failures mean they can no longer meet the needs of the arena, including the ice resurfacing machines.

Staff provided two other options, including foregoing hiring the specialist and simply replacing the boilers, or attempting to repair them. They estimated a $125,000 price tag, though CAO Matt Smith said it was a very preliminary estimate.

Coun. Adrian Couwenberg suggested, based on some research he did, that the replacement could be done for far cheaper and that he didn’t see the need to hire a specialist. Smith said the specialist would help fine tune cost estimates.

Other councillors were comfortable with hiring the specialist.

“I think spending $3,500 to make sure we’re doing it right makes sense,” said Coun. Karl Toews.

At the meeting, councillors also approved a staff report recommending replacement of two doors at the community centre, which a fire inspection found deficient.