Construction of a synthetic sports field will soon get underway at Blackburn Park.
Salmon Arm city council, at its May 12 meeting, awarded the contract for the work to Lessard Excavating for $850,176.78 plus taxes. Council also approved a contingency of just under $150,000 to support project overruns and inclusion of optional items.
Council budgeted $1 million towards the project in 2024, with the Shuswap Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) having committed $300,000 towards that amount.
The work is expected to begin this month and be completed by September 2025.
City Roads and Parks manager Darin Gerow explained how prior to issuing a tender for the entire project, city staff met with SYSA and Franklin Engineering to go over elements to be included in the project. The tender was divided into five components: field preparation, pathway replacement/improvements, utilities, miscellaneous, and optional works, with the latter including options for fencing heights, electrical conduit for lighting, lighting bases and the lighting itself.
Four bids were received for the work, the lowest from Lessard. Gerow said the award encompasses all items, with a selected fence height, but not the lighting, and that after the contract is awarded SYSA wold be fundraising for the lighting installation.
"SYSA anticipates securing the necessary funds and, if there is any remaining contingency, completing the lighting component," explained Gerow in a written report. "Since the lighting scope is independent and does not overlap with other work, it can be managed separately."
Commenting on the 2024 budget, Mayor Alan Harrison explained council put $700,000 in for the field project in response to a specific referral request from SYSA, and concern around Memorial Arena no longer being safe for public use.
"So that was challenging to do, but given a whole bunch of circumstances – including the circumstances at the Memorial Arena – it’s been a longstanding project and it will allow the soccer, rugby, football seasons to extend rather than have to wait for the fields to be ready in May and again stopping in October. So this is a project we’re working on in collaboration with Salmon Arm Youth Soccer and users," said Harrison in a December 2023 interview.
At the May 12 meeting, Harrison suggested future development of recreation facilities may depend on partnerships.
"No one group… can go it alone anymore; you have to have partnerships," said Harrison. "So we really appreciate Shuswap Youth Soccer pitching in $300,000 to make this viable. We couldn’t do it without them.
"And similarly, I'm sure they feel the same way. The city’s monies that we’ve pitched in have made it possible. So it’s a partnership. I think future projects will also require partnerships, whether it’s other levels of government, private-public partnerships or partnerships with non-profits like Salmon Arm Youth Soccer."
