The 2017-2018 ice season is in a state of limbo at the Leo Boivin Community Centre.
At a special council meeting last night the town confirmed what many suspected, the Leo is being forced to shut down for maintenance. The decision comes after staff initiated a series of Building Condition Assessments, which looked at all the building systems including structure, environmental and HVAC. The Leo was the first building selected and the assessment was started in September, because the facility had to be in full operation for the results to be accurate.
On September 27th EVB Engineering completed a structural condition assessment of the arena; the results for this will be available in the near future. During their assessment EVB identified potential environmental issues in the form of, what appeared to be, asbestos and black mould in certain parts of the building. EVB recommended the town proceed with a Designated Substance Survey and an industrial hygienist completed the survey on October 4th.
The results of the survey came back to the town on October 10th with good and bad news. The good news was that the asbestos was actually a form of fiberglass that posed no health risk. Unfortunately the mould was airborne in various parts of the facility. After receiving the results the town moved to temporarily suspend activity in the community centre while town hall could organize the best course of action.
The Industrial Hygienist’s short term recommendations were that the Leo be shut down immediately. Their first suggestion moving forward was cleaning the surface of the canvas wrap in the ceiling to remove the visible mould growth. They suggest complete removal of the impacted material but cleaning with a biocide solution could make the building useable under Ministry of Labour guidelines. Once the cleaning is completed the hygienist will return to make sure the issue was fixed.
The second step is a cleaning of the community centre surfaces in all offices, change rooms, kitchens, washrooms, meeting rooms, storage areas and ductwork. The hygienist will once again check after the cleaning has been completed to make sure the process worked. Finally, after cleaning is complete, the areas around the newly cleaned part of the buildings should be wiped down with a biocide solution.
The long term recommendations included replacing the canvas wrap and fiberglass insulation within the building, further investigating the source of water filtration and completing additional air testing to ensure cleaning was effective.
After discussion with the engineers and public works the town reached the conclusion a phased approach would be best because it may allow for the season to be salvaged. There is no guarantee that the phased approach means the arena can reopen this winter, but a non-phased approach would guarantee a season-long shutdown. The first phase would see the town completing the engineer’s second and third suggestions, cleaning the arena’s public areas and ducts with a biocide solution.
The estimated cost of the first phase is $90,000 and the second phase would cost $660,000. These totals are only to clean the mould and do not take into consideration any other repairs suggested during the building condition assessment. It should also be noted that these numbers are high-end totals, it could cost less than $750,000 to clean-up the mould, but it will not cost more.
By the end of the year there will be almost $215,000 in the arena reserve, which is dedicated to arena improvements. This money will cover the first phase of the clean-up. The town has identified four possibilities for funding the remaining cost, but none of the suggestions have been given any debate yet by council.
All six councillors and the mayor voted to move forward with the phased approach in hopes the ice season could be salvaged for figure skaters and hockey players in the area. There will be a frequently asked questions document posted to the town’s website at some time today. The Mayor and council thanked the town for their patience during this unexpected development.
