The building of the NexSource Centre is making steady progress and is visible to the community as tarps are up and workers are continuously building.
A lot of the framework for the ice portion of the arena is up said co-chair of the NexSouce Centre Fundraising Committee Amy Komarniski.
“It’s starting to look like progress is happening which is nice,” Komarniski said.
She said it is visible where the actual rink is going to be as there is yellow tarp around it and it won’t be long before the foundation will betied into the building.
It’s hard to see what is happening within the tarped off area but Komarniski said the project is definitely moving along at a steady andvisible rate.
What was harder to see was all the work that had to be done underground such as laying and moving utilities. This work had to be doneprior to the above ground construction which took a couple months, but now progress can be seen above ground.
“It looked like nothing was happening in fact there was a lot happening,” Komarniski said. “But now the public can see what is happeningprogress wise because here on out you can actually see it.”
She said it is exciting for the construction to be at the stage it is because it means the community can be on board with what is going on,and until now, it was just the community hearing about the progress.
“Once you actually get to the point where they are at right now you’ll start to see lots of change,” Komarniski said. “The community needs tosee the building being erected to understand that it’s actually happening.”
This is just one of the results of the hard work that has been going on since last spring when they broke ground.
Komarniski said the actual construction has gone very smoothly and even though it may have felt like it took a while to get the buildingprocess underway, that time allowed for solid planning to ensure the building would stand strong and for a long time.
“That was a concern brought to my attention at times as we have had a few facilities who haven’t stood up to the test of time in town,”Komarniski said.
The planning of the project started before the collapse of the previous building as there was a need for more facilities and the arena was notgoing to last for much longer.
To ensure this building would be different every option was looked at and reviewed and the best one was chosen - one that would be bestsuited to the community.
“The planning process was long but it allowed the town to look at every different opportunity and option for building and moving forwardwith the route they felt really comfortable with,” Komarniski said. “There haven’t been a lot of hold ups.”
She said each stage of the construction is being carefully reviewed by service providers to ensure they understand the project.
The whole project is around $31 million and Komarniski said they are not quite 100 per cent to their fundraising goal but are close.
She said there are still new sponsors that have come forward as the project continues to keep moving forward.
reporter@sylvanlakenews.com