Construction of the Active Living Centre ongoing as of October 15 (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

ALC Construction Update

Savings identified in choosing Canadian for the Active Living Centre construction

Oct 15, 2025 | 3:00 PM

Construction of Vernon’s new recreation hub is moving along, and is under budget after some saving opportunities were found.

A city staff report said construction of the new Active Living Centre was tracking below initial cost estimates over summer as the project team was “able to avoid most of the potential tariff risk through the timing of purchases and shipping of equipment from the U.S. and by choosing Canadian-made products and equipment where possible.”

Victor Cumming, the mayor of Vernon, praised the decision to choose Canadian when possible.

“Recently we purchased some diving equipment, and we were able to get it out of Quebec for less than what we thought we were going to pay for it out of the U.S.,” Cumming told Vernon Matters following the regular council meeting Tuesday, October 14.

“We’re pleased with the ability that our contractor has been in terms of finding, and our staff, our project manager, in finding these other sources for the same thing and of equal quality, and the fact that it’s from Canada is even better for us.

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“It’s super important [to buy Canadian]. We’re spending $136-million of taxpayers money, and it really makes sense to, as much as possible, to be doing that with Canadian supplies and Canadian workers. We’ve been doing great on the Canadian workers, and we’ve done really well, I think, in terms of Canadian supplies.”

The staff report did not specifically say how much savings were identified through choosing Canadian components for the project.

Construction of the ALC is also progressing on schedule.

The staff report said design work focusing on the back-of-house and staff parking was completed, and the focus had turned on design elements such as pedestrian routes, public spaces, and tree and shrub placements.

Progress was also made over the summer and early fall on the concrete, foundation, superstructure and site works.

“A number of things are well along, like the 25 metre warm-up pool is already constructed. They put water in it, it held water, and now they’re tiling it,” Cumming told Vernon Matters.

“We saw the big 50 metre pool, they’re putting in and finishing the concrete. Tremendous work has already been done.”

The report added the concrete slabs had been laid for the fitness area and running track; ceiling mechanical and electrical rough ins were underway; and key utility connections had already been established.

People can monitor construction of the recreation hub through the city’s ALC Construction Cam.

As of the latest update, the Active Living Centre remained on track to be completed and open to the public by the fall of 2026.