Proposed rec centre in Dawson City, Yukon, $30M over budget, forcing council to rethink plans

Five steps forward, seven steps back.

That's how many Dawson City, Yukon, residents feel when it comes to the town's proposed new recreation centre.

At Tuesday's town council meeting, acting chief administrative officer Paul Robitaille dropped some unfortunate news: the project is coming in way over the set budget of $65 million.

"The estimates came in around $95 million on the capital side," he explained to council. "And around $1.5 million on the [operations and maintenance] side."

Right now, the Yukon government has committed $65 million to the proposed facility, and some of that money is expected to come from the federal government's Investing in Canada's Infrastructure Program (ICIP.)

The schematic design of the proposed recreation centre includes an ice hockey arena, a two-lane curling arena, concession facilities, and recreation programming space.

Robitaille requested confirmation from council that administration could work within the $65-million budget and continue the planning work that has already been done up to this point. He said a decision should be made by the end of January.

"The ICIP funding ..will be expiring at some point in the near future," he said. "Our opportunity to utilize the $65 million could expire if we don't pursue this project."

"At this stage we believe the best course of action is to work within that budget which we have been provided by the Yukon Government and we're happy to do that good work."

During a meeting on Tuesday night, town council discussed whether or not to pursue the new recreation centre project. The latest numbers on the project show it's currently around $30 million over budget. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC)

The town's Mayor Bill Kendrick was first to call the process frustrating.

"I know there's some frustration in the room," he said. "We want to have faith in a process because there's been a lot of confusion as to why, for many months, something went down a trail that proved to be beyond the realm of available funds. The first step is acknowledging that we want to move forward."

Kendrick said administration has until next September to have the complete funding application submitted to the government.

"That's the window in which we are redesigning or reorienting the facility."

Coun. Julia Spriggs also expressed her support to keep the project on track.

"I do not want to provide any reasons for delay," she said. "It's such an important piece of infrastructure for the community, especially where I feel we are racing the clock on these federal funds that will expire.

"If we push it and they expire, I don't know where our government will be able to find funds for this. And that worries me."

Coun. Patrik Pikalek wasn't as eager as his fellow councillors.

"We don't have enough time to revisit the whole project," he said. "We can only discuss the details. Right now we're being asked to revisit the entire project to make significant cuts and design basically a brand new facility in two months."

Coun. Alexander Somerville said he would support the motion to move the project forward but to stay within budget.

"We have to deal with the facts that are in front of us. It seems to me that the $65-million figure has only become clearer, sharper, and firmer."

'Ridiculous, and way overpriced'

Dawson City resident Chad Beverage told CBC News a $95-million dollar facility for a town with a population of less than 2,000 people doesn't make sense.

"I think this is a ridiculous, and way overpriced, expenditure for such a small town," he wrote.

"A much smarter use of that money ... would be a bridge to West Dawson. That way the city could expand the physical city limits to include West Dawson, which would increase the tax base for the town.. And, more than likely, create enough funding to make a rec centre that can be used year-round in the future."

Resident Diana Andrew told CBC News she's been doing her own research on recreation centres in other jurisdictions.

She pointed to the community of Assiniboia, Sask. — slightly larger than Dawson — which has a brand-new, $18-million recreation centre.

"I have sticker shock," she said. "I don't know why a rec centre in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, cost 18 million and one in Dawson City is 95 million. I think that's a big question mark of how that happens."