Elliot Lake council is pleased the Rogers Arena upgrades are moving ahead on schedule.
Chris Perry, of Perry & Perry Architects, the lead on the project, says they have been able to finalize most of the design and scope of the work inside the facility.
Perry says the interior sheathing is nearly complete with the cross-bracing to be installed soon, adding the exterior finish should be finished up by May.
He says most of the hard services will be located in the mezzanine area, and the new design includes upgrades required by the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League accommodations requirements, as well as four separate seating areas and a lift to meet accessibility needs.
Perry adds in terms of the lobby, the concession is larger, will have a donor wall and trophy cases, adding all the changerooms, bathrooms and showers, including a gender-neutral referee space, will also meet accessibility regulations.
Perry provided several renderings showing what the current layout and design may look like. (These renderings are not final, and the design is subject to change).
The final design of the new arena layout is nearing completion, and in the coming weeks each user group will be asked to review the final layout design so that work may begin.
Additionally, since the last project update, work has continued on both sides of the exterior walls and is expected to be finished soon. Once the exterior walls have been finished and are completely enclosed work will begin on installing the new Knee Brace connections will begin.
The knee brace connections are the final component to ensure and maintain structural integrity.
This work is currently proceeding on schedule.
Initial demolition work in the lobby and change room areas is scheduled to begin this week so that the Design and Engineering team can confirm that the new layout design is feasible and so that any additional work that is needed can be presented to council.
He says they still have to finalize some of the mechanical systems and under his team, another contract will be tendered out to complete the various projects to be completed.
Perry adds one of his crews will be on site today to scope out the work and he will report back to council in four weeks stressing they are on schedule to open in September.
Perry prepared a timeline back in December to handle the final scope, with the bulk of the work to be carried out in March, April, and May.
He told council he will have an update with the budget for council four weeks from now and is now getting into more details making sure all key items are scheduled and done by the required date.
