Elliot Lake facing a price tag of $4.3M to fix arena

City officials have released in a report how much it could cost to repair the Centennial Arena in Elliot Lake, Ont., and the price tag to repair the wooden structure is so far sitting at $4.3 million dollars.

Elliot Lake's Centennial Arena has been closed since September 2023 because of structural problems. (File Photo/CTV News Northern Ontario)

In a report going to city council, Timber Restoration Services (TRS) has indicated that the financial figure represents repairs based on the currently known information. It also includes labour and costs incurred through April.

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Installed health monitoring systems at the arena have been detecting movement in the primary structural elements of the facility.

One of the city’s other contractors, Wood Research and Development (WRD,) has since determined that the alarms have been triggering due to design deficiencies in the arena’s foundation system.

WRD has since prepared a preliminary design to address the deficiencies, but finalizing it depends on a geotechnical investigation of the soils around the arena and an examination of the existing concrete pier foundations under the arena.

Sub-consultant engineers have been scheduled to provide more detailed reporting in the coming weeks.

The amount being contracted will also include labour and material costs.

“Due to the urgency that the community and council has placed on this project, staff is concurrently engaged in planning funding, commissioning design and having vendors realize the project. The situation is far from ideal, but is often the nature of dealing with emergent projects,” the report reads.

The price tag is also going to have a significant impact on the financial planning of the project.

The report states that community fundraising is underway and grant funders have been approached for support but the city will have to be more dynamic in the way it approaches funding until some more of the details around the arena have been finalized.

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“Managing the cash flow required to realize the project may be a challenge for the city,” said staff in the report - adding that all discretionary reserves are insufficient to cover the costs.

Staff have begun exploring Infrastructure Ontario Loans as a financing option for the repairs.

They are also recommending that a formal report to council come forward as soon as sufficient clarity on project scope, costs and funding requirements are available.

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The report recommends council approve the costs associated with fixing Centennial Arena to TRS along with $40,000 in work to WRD.

The full report will be discussed during the council meeting on Monday night.

The full report can be found here.