Construction of Vernon's Active Living Centre (Image Credit: Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

ALC Construction Update

Active Living Centre on time, budget, after savings found

Feb 7, 2026 | 6:00 AM

Construction of Vernon’s new recreation hub is moving along as planned, or even better.

A city staff’s quarterly report said the Active Living Centre’s (ALC) design and construction team were “on target to deliver the project on time and on budget.”

The report went on to say the project’s final target cost in June of 2025 was tracking at $119,826,012, a savings of $1,204,897.

In July, the project team used $635,974 of those savings toward 15 additional items with the goal of improving safety, security, and/or user experience through enhanced lighting in the pool areas, supplemental fan coils in the gymnasiums, and in-slab radiant heating in the main change room corridor.

Another $267,698 was used to purchase major amenities for the pool area including a large viviLED scoreboard and the AquaClimb climbing wall, with the report stating these and other features at the ALC could still be sponsored and funds from those deals would be credited back to the project.

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In July, the project was also tracking below estimates. Should that trend continue, the savings will be shared: the project design and construction team will receive 50 per cent and the owner claiming the other 50 per cent.

“[The ALC] project continues to be tracking, we always say tracking, under budget. The reason for that is you don’t know until the very last day when furniture and everything’s installed and everything is up and running, and then you can have the celebration,” Mayor Victor Cumming told Vernon Matters.

“But it’s very important that, at this stage, with just seven or eight months left of construction, that we continue to track in a budget situation that shows us that we’re going to match our budget or be slightly under. So that’s very reassuring for council.”

Looking ahead, the staff report said construction would be focuses on a number of priorities in the first quarter of 2026.

• Placement of three air source heat pumps
• Ongoing storm sewer installation
• Finalizing all remaining exterior glazing and metal siding around the building
• Tying the pool pipping into the pool filtration and chemical treatment equipment
• Installing wall and ceiling finishes and completing mechanical and electrical distribution in the 50-metre pool and leisure pool areas
• Completing interior partition framing and masonry installation in the change rooms
• Completing drywall installation in the fitness area, running track, change rooms, and lobby
• Beginning floor tile installation in the change rooms
• Continuation of mechanical room equipment installation and HVAC, plumbing and electrical system tie-ins

Additionally, another staff report said progress was being made on ensuring the ALC achieved the Rick Hansen Gold Level Certification for accessibility.

The report said a member of the ALC design team was a Rick Hansen Foundation certified RHFAC Professional Evaluator, and was ensuring all design decisions were being filtered through the criteria needed to receive that certification.

“Based on a recent mid-project review, the design team is confident the facility will achieve the Gold Level Certification,” the report stated.

The accessibility features being incorporated into the ALC included tactile walking surface indicators, no abrupt changes to walking path elevations, accessible washrooms with power doors and power locks, tactile lettering and braille on all room signage, a ramp to the 25 metre pool, and other features to accommodate people of all needs.

“I think it’s really important for people to know that the accessibility features, that’s for everybody,” Cumming told Vernon Matters.

“The way [the ALC has] been designed is so everybody will enjoy that and, by the way, if you have accessibility challenges, you’re going to find it mostly very smooth, as everybody else will. So I just think we’re not making exceptions for some people who have mobility challenges, whether that be sight or other kind of physical limitations, they designed it in such a way that it will be the same for everyone, and therefore it will accommodate this wider mix of needs. What a great design.”

Both reports were accepted by Vernon City Council at the regular meeting Monday, Feb. 9.

The City of Vernon plans to have the new ALC ready to open by this fall.