Hockey season is done; construction season has begun.
Ice is now out of the Elgar Petersen Arena (EPA), and renovations to the lobby and upper arena level are very much underway.
Darrell Lessmeister, Director of Community and Leisure Services for the City of Humboldt, took the Journal for another tour of the work area last week.
On the main lobby level, the tile flooring has been removed from the floor and the stairs, and a door has been cut in the partition wall that separated the work area from the untouched part of the lobby during the hockey season. On the other side of that wall, masonry work has been done so that it's clear where the Uniplex's new main information desk will be located, as well as the new concession.
With the new open concept design, from that new information desk, staff members will have a line of sight into the curling rink, the aquatic centre and into the arena, Lessmeister noted.
"It's exciting. The community is going to be very excited when they see the lobby," he promised.
On the upper level of the arena, the metal frames for the new doors to the seating level have been installed, and on either side of the doors, masonry walls define the space for two wheelchair accessible bathrooms.
The doors are necessary to provide sound separation, Lessmeister said, and will also keep the cold from the arena away from the lobby. A window-filled wall behind the main information desk in the lobby will keep the pool area separate as well, again because of differences in temperature and humidity.
Beside the accessible bathroom on the south side of the stairs is the shaft for the new elevator, which replaces the old chair lift, and provides access to all levels of both the curling arena and the EPA. The shaft is now ready for the mechanical work, and the elevator will be operational by August, Lessmeister believes.
That elevator, he noted, is going to make a world of difference to those with mobility issues.
The renovations are really moving at this point, Lessmeister said.
The only thing left to start on in the lobby renovations is to wall off part of an office on the main floor to create a mechanical room.
The timeline is to have all the renovations done in August. Lessmeister is hoping it will all be wrapped up by August 22, when the winter season officially begins at the Uniplex.
