With the first major event just over a month away, the heat is on the various crews working on the construction of Spectra Place.
Although work on the facility has been going well since they recovered from a wet summer that caused a significant delay, the City of Estevan recently learned there are concerns that some of the subtrades, particularly the project's electrical contractor, have fallen behind, leading some to doubt Spectra Place would be ready in time for the fifth and final fundraising dinner which is set for March 25.
City manager Jim Puffalt said the arena construction committee recently met with the lead contractor Graham Construction and told them in no uncertain terms that the facility must be completed enough to hold the dinner.
"That means power throughout the building, the sprinkler system, fire alarm system, all that stuff has to be done before anything else can get done so they have to concentrate on those areas," said Puffalt.
"There is no question it's behind because we were told just up to two weeks ago that by the end of February it was going to be done. In walking through the facility, and hearing some of the stories going around town, we thought we better check it out, and of course found out that wasn't quite the case."
Puffalt said when the date of the dinner was announced, the City was guaranteed by the construction manager that the facility would be ready to go come March. With roughly six weeks until the event, Puffalt said they will be a close watch on their progress.
"It's not an option to not be done. We will live with not having ice in the facility until July, but we are not going to live with having that event not happen on March 25 which was booked based on their advice. They better come through."
Colin Olfert, the project co-ordinator for Graham Construction, said a number of meetings have been taking place over the last few days to determine what needs to be ready for the dinner and are developing a plan to ensure the dinner will be held.
"We are not going to be 100 per cent complete where after the dinner we walk away," Olfert said. "There will be some behind the scenes things that will have to be completed but most of the stuff on the exterior with what people will see will be complete or nearing completion."
Olfert said the focus of their work between now and the dinner will be the life saving equipment in the facility. The finishing work is also expected to be completed or near complete by March 25.
"Also, a big thing that will be happening at the start of March will be the startup of the heating and cooling systems," said Olfert. "That will be a big scope of work that will start around March 7. They need about two to three weeks to get it all started up, get all the bugs worked out.
Olfert added another big event in early March will be the construction and raising of the scoreboard. The four sided video scoreboard arrived earlier this month and will be one of the showcase pieces of the new facility.
Although there are some concerns about being ready in time for the dinner, one thing both Puffalt and Olfert both stressed is that Spectra Place will be a facility that the citizens of Estevan and southeast Saskatchewan will be very proud of.
"I keep telling everyone that asks about the project, whether they be from Estevan or elsewhere in Saskatchewan, that I believe it will be the nicest arena facility in the province bar none which I think everybody is excited about."
