Improvements made to Vernon’s recreation facilities in 2021

Feb 16, 2022 | 12:00 PM

The past year saw a number of major maintenance and improvement projects completed at Vernon’s recreation facilities.

Doug Ross, Vernon’s director of Recreation Facilities, presented city council with an overview of the major projects from 2021 during the Feb. 14 regular council meeting.

The budget for the maintenance projects was set $2,839,907. Of that, $1,509,726 was carried forward from projects that could not be completed in 2020, and $722,000 came from grants. The normal budget for 2021 was $155,106.

The grant was used to upgrade the Priest Valley Arena refrigeration room. Two older, rusted chillers were dismantled and replaced with new chillers. The arena’s third chiller is expected to be replaced in the summer of 2022.

A brand new air handling unit (AHU) was installed in the Aquatic Centre. This allows for the heating, cooling and dehumidifying the air on the leisure pool side of the facility.

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With these items installed, the recreation centre and Priest Valley Arena have been able to save some money on energy when compared to 2019, which was the last full year of operations.

“Not a lot of savings, but you can see that there is some, and when that third chiller gets installed we do expect this will improve even more,” said Ross.

Hydro savings at Priest Valley Arena and the Recreation Centre following the installation of new chillers and an air handling unit. (photo courtesy of the City of Vernon)

Repairing the Priest Valley Gym roof damaged by a fire was one of the projects carried forward from the previous year.

“That obviously got repaired in short order so that we could continue to use the gym, but the big changes that we’ve gone to is putting aluminum siding on the outside of the building, and with the money from the fire claim we were actually able to do three sides of this building and not just the two that were impacted by the fire,” said Ross.

“I believe we are going ahead with [installing aluminum siding] on the last side sometime this year.”

Additionally, a fire panel was installed at the recreation centre. This was paid for using savings from the Priest Valley Gym door project.

There were also $27,500 in savings from the installation of an air handling system at the recreation centre, replacing the need for large-scale work in the office area that would accomplish the same goal.

Kal Tire Place also saw a number of upgrades in 2021.

Five heat exchangers were replaced with three new energy efficient units, which in turn will bring down the hydro costs.

That upgrade also resulted in $11,000 in savings in project costs, which was used to help pay for the REALice system, which allows for the making of ice using cold water rather than hot water.

The REALice system is expected to reduce the natural gas use by about 150 giga-joules a month. Those energy savings have allowed the city to pay back the investment in just six months.

Hydro savings at Kal Tire Place following the installation of new heat exchangers (photo courtesy of the City of Vernon)

Fortis savings at Kal Tire Place following the installation of the REALice system (photo courtesy of the City of Vernon)

Other projects completed in 2021 were the upgrading of exterior lighting at the recreation centre and the installation of hand rails at Kal Tire Place, though that last project is still ongoing with the final railings expected to be installed in the coming month.

Looking forward, Recreation Services wants to enclose the entrance to the boxing club at Priest Valley Arena and install a new Zamboni bay at the Rec Centre.

“This is largely a safety issue, we always have to drive the Zamboni around the front of the curling rink and then down around the fire lane to the Centennial outdoor rink,” explained Ross.

“This project will move the Zamboni bay adjacent to the Priest Valley and Halina Centre parking lot, and the Zamboni will be able to drive right out of this bay and right onto the Centennial ice and it will eliminate any issues with having pedestrians around. It will also allow us to salt the lane between the two buildings more, because that has always been an issue because the salt would get on the tires and the tires would bring it out onto the ice.”

Plans have been designed for the Zamboni bay that meet building compliance, and construction work could begin as early as the summer.

Design plans for the centennial zamboni bay at the Vernon Recreation Centre (photo courtesy of the City of Vernon)

Ross added that the city has a surplus Zamboni, which would be used for the upkeep of the Centennial ice rink, the other will be kept inside the Priest Valley Arena.

by Liam Verster

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