Plans to add more recreational services to Twin Pad are $5.5 million overbudget

An aerial view of the proposed expansion. The new parking lot is proposed for the south end of the property, where there will be an access off Hutchings Rd. There will be a total of 387 standard parking spaces. Not pictured, is an existing parking lot on the west side of the main twin pad building. 

By Casandra Turnbull

Managing Editor

Plans to move forward with the Twin Pad expansion project, and work with architects to finalize the design for tender early next year, received councillor support last week but not without a lot of debate and questions. The project was before the Administrative and Operations Committee on May 20th where Phil Mete, Brant’s General Manager of Community Services, along with representatives from MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects Inc. (MJMA) provided a detailed walk through of the design options. When the original expansion was presented in 2019, the 51,000 square foot design was projected to cost $22.3 million. That cost has almost doubled to $38.2 million today, forcing the project back to the drawing board. A second option of a 38,000 sq/ft scaled down design was still projected to cost $31.9 million and was deemed not financially feasible. A team of third-party consultants worked with the county and MJMA architects to find some efficiencies and presented a third option that compacted the ground floor plan, moving meeting rooms and offices to the second floor, reducing the gross floor area and bringing costs down to $28.3 million. To bring the project within budget, the floor plan went from its original one Fiba sized basketball court and three full size basketball courts down to one and a half basketball courts (49’ x 85’), the nine pickleball courts were cut down to six pickleball courts, and three volleyball courts were untouched. The 130-metre walking track around the perimeter of the gymnasium will have three lanes. There were no changes to the plan to add four new, barrier free, dressing rooms in the twin pad arena. The rooms would include barrier free toilets, two showers, one barrier free shower, a private shower and change area and would be large enough for 22 players, compared to the current rooms that only accomodate 19 players and are not accessible. The twin pad expansion will include a mix of existing and new parking spaces totaling 387 standard spots (this will be split between the current east and west parking lots and a new parking to the south). Ten of the spaces will be accessible, there are four planned 4 EV charging stations, bike parking and there’s space for a potential west parking expansion in the future. Vehicle access will remain at the two points off powerline road with a third access to be added from Hutchings Rd. On a sustainability front, aligning with the county’s net-zero ambitions, the building will be fully electric, built with low carbon materials and will be constructed and equipped for future PV Solar Panels, which are not included in the current projected costs. It will be an estimated $700,000 - $900,000 to install the solar panels later, which the architects believe will bring significant savings for years to come, reducing the building’s electric load. County staff want the project to move forward towards a final design, so it can be ready to tender by late 2025 or early 2026. Time is also of the essence as a lot of federal/provincial grants depend on the project being significantly further along in the design or construction phases. Staff have already applied for the Community Support and Recreation Fund Grant where there’s a potential $10 million in funding, however, approval of that grant requires the project to be completed by early 2027. The best estimated completion date, according to Mete, is late 2027 or early 2028. Grants will be a critical part of funding the project, which is currently overbudget by about close to $5.5 million. Only $22.8 million was accounted for in the capital forecast for 2026 construction. Heather Boyd, General Manager of Corporate Services, said the increased costs prompted the discussion of debt limit in the staff issued report, but noted the project doesn’t take the county over the self-imposed limit. That would be a discussion that could occur ahead of the 2027 budget. Whether the county can afford the project, remains subjective she said. “Do we wait for some development charges to reserve this project or take a chance of costs going up again at a faster pace than we can raise the money?” she asked. Boyd explained that $17 million to $18 million of the project’s costs will come from current and future development charges. Several councillors had concerns whether this project is affordable. Paris Councillor John Bell wanted to know how much the project has cost to date and how much more is required to get to tender at the end of this year. “The challenge we have as a county is do we spend that money or commit not knowing if we can afford the project?” Bell questioned.Kathy Ballantyne, Director of Facilities and Special Projects, said the MJMA design contract was awarded at $1.95 million, and the county has already incurred $700,000 in pre-design costs. She predicts another $400,000 to $500,000 in design fees before the year is over.  It was evident many councillors were concerned that moving forward and incurring more costs, only to turn down the project at tender would be reminiscent of the New Library Branch/Bawcutt Centre project. Councillor Robert Chambers noted that if a cautious approach was taken with the Bawcutt project, ‘we would have been a lot of money ahead to invest in another high priority project.’ Mayor David Bailey said he wouldn’t support the project because he believes the New Library Branch/Bawcutt Centre should be figured out ahead of this major expansion. “We need to stop spending big money and focus on how many people we can please for lesser amounts of money,” said Bailey. Councillor Bell asked whether the demand for basketball courts and pickleball courts exceeded the demand for a swimming pool. “I look at the 1,100 responses we got, which I think is fabulous. The top response is ‘I’d like a swimming pool,’ and it’s kind of flying in the face of public demand. If we are trying to meet a functional need, I think the message we got back was what we want is a pool,” said Bell. “We’re driving down this road of providing gymnasium support when in fact the community wants something different; how do we in fact square that circle?”Mete responded that the county was very clear from the start of the project that a pool was part of the plans and that the other services the expansion will provide also represent a high demand. Ballantyne also weighed in stating a pool is in the county’s long range financial plan, however it’s a bit further out when the population can support the operational costs of a pool, which would be more than $1 million a year. “It would be difficult to support that with the size of community we have now,” said Ballantyne. Current growth models suggest a pool would be possible around 2030. In the end, the recommendation to direct staff to proceed with option 3, the scaled down design, pursue all funding opportunities and commence community fundraising passed 6-4. Councillors Jennifer Kyle, John MacAlpine, John Peirce, Lukas Oakley, David Miller and Steve Howes supported it, while Councillors Christine Garneau, John Bell, Brian Coleman and Mayor David Bailey voted against it. It must be ratified by council later this month.