The list below reflects the most commonly addressed questions collected from community engagement exercises and inquiries submitted to City Council, City staff and members of the project team. We do our best to collect and answer these questions fully, but welcome you to share your own comments and questions with us at eventfacility@lloydminster.ca.
| Why does the City need to build a new facility? | ||
| In late 2019, the City completed a consultant-led assessment of 17 City-owned facilities, including the Centennial Civic Centre. These buildings were analyzed based on age, condition and capital cost for rehabilitation/renovation and anticipated remaining life. The Civic Centre was deemed to be near the end of its usable life. The cost of repairing and restoring the building to a modern standard – when compared to constructing a new facility – were not feasible. Additionally, the facility is not able to meet standards for many events, low roof lines, lack of dressing room space are problematic to bringing in sporting events to the City. | ||
| When will the new facility open? | ||
| The City expects to break ground on the project in early 2023, with a grand opening sometime in 2025. | ||
| What would be built, exactly? What is included in the proposal? | ||
|
Current plans include a building with two indoor ice surfaces, eight public dressing rooms and dressing rooms for primary user groups. From the project conception, a primary goal has been to maintain the availability of five indoor ice surfaces in Lloydminster by offsetting the impending closures of the Centennial Civic Centre and (eventually) the Archie Miller Arena. Currently, Phase 1 of the project is estimated at $102.5 million, which reflects both the cost of facility construction and development of the 90-acre site. |
||
| Why has the City settled on two indoor ice surfaces? Why not more? | ||
|
From the project conception, a primary goal has been to maintain the availability of five indoor ice surfaces in Lloydminster by offsetting the impending closures of the Centennial Civic Centre and (eventually) the Archie Miller Arena. While the availability of more ice will always be appreciated by local users, the community need is being appropriately met with five indoor sheets. The addition of more indoor ice sheets within the Cenovus Energy Hub design would have made the project financially unfeasible for the City of Lloydminster in the short term. The City’s initial proposal for the project included two indoor ice surfaces and a third covered outdoor artificial ice surface. As part of the budget-reduction work in September and October 2022, the roof for the outdoor rink and the artificial ice infrastructure have been removed from the design to create a savings of approximately $5 million; however, the design proposal still includes the adjacent outdoor rink, with boards and lighting. |
||
| What will happen to Centennial Civic Centre? | ||
| The City anticipates the Centennial Civic Centre will continue to operate until summer 2025 before it is decommissioned and ultimately demolished. The building will not be sold or repurposed. | ||
| Why has this project estimate increased significantly since it was introduced in 2021? | ||
|
The City’s initial cost projections brought forward in early 2021 were based on comparisons drawn from projects completed in 2020 and did not reflect factors like inflation and the significant escalation in material costs that have occurred over the past two years. Additionally, the scope of the project was expanded to include the required number of dressing rooms and other considerations that were identified as important through stakeholder and public engagement. Additionally, the project was expanded to include costs for developing ball diamonds on the same site. In September and October 2022, the project team underwent a thorough and thoughtful review of the designs and proposed amenities to ensure a ‘no frills’ approach while still delivering a facility that will meet Lloydminster’s most urgent needs for an indoor ice/event facility |
||
| How will the City pay for the new facility? | ||
| The City submitted federal and provincial grant applications with potential to cover a significant portion of the costs to design and build the new event facility. Portions of the cost not covered by grant dollars will come from the City’s capital budget, as well as regional partnerships, sponsorships, donations, while also seeking additional grants. The City has set up fundraising and sponsorship committees to help raise funds. | ||
| Did the City look at other facilities before planning Cenovus Energy Hub? | ||
|
Since early 2021, City Administration has toured more than 15 facilities across Alberta and Saskatchewan, gaining valuable insight into the construction and operations of those buildings. |
||
| Will this facility be built to host an WHL franchise someday? | ||
| No. The benchmark capacity for a WHL-sized arena is approximately 4,000-4,500 seats. This is beyond the scope and budget of this project. | ||
| How did the City choose the location? | ||
| Through much of 2021, City Administration – with the support of contracted experts – explored several sites throughout Lloydminster. Each site was thoroughly assessed with a focus on visitor accessibility, geotechnical risks, grant eligibility, servicing requirements, economic benefit, and a plethora of other considerations. After months of diligent assessment, the eastern site formally selected by City Council was deemed the most viable from a financial and logistical perspective. The City is confident that a new event facility in the City’s southeast will help drive economic and recreational benefit to the Lloydminster region for generations to come. | ||
| How can local suppliers and service companies participate in the construction? | ||
| The City of Lloydminster's Procurement Department manages acquisition of the many goods and services required in its regular operations and services to residents. Our procurement activities are guided by a Purchasing and Procurement Policy. We advertise procurement request documents, including request for bids, quotations and proposals. All potential vendors are encouraged to create or update their profile on bidsandtenders.ca to receive notice of tenders. The e-bidding format simplifies the procurement process by allowing bids to be submitted electronically. Vendors no longer have to come to City Hall to meet a deadline and get a manual time and date stamp for bid submissions. | ||
| Who is the architect of the new facility? How did the City choose them? | ||
| TBD Architecture + Urban Planning (TBD) is the firm selected by the City of Lloydminster to support the planning and design of the new Event Facility. Through the RFP submission and interview process, TBD displayed a high-level of experience and expertise in large event facility projects – including Edmonton’s Rogers Place – bringing forward a well-rounded and highly qualified team. Their unique value-added operational planning tools and capital investment trackers will help to balance the City’s needs during the design of the project. TBD has a strong focus on sustainable operations and is forward thinking regarding the chosen site and future development for the area. | ||
| Why is the City proceeding with designing the facility and site before funding is fully secured? | ||
| Many federal and provincial grants require municipalities to be ‘shovel ready’ with infrastructure plans before submitting them for grant consideration. Over the past two years, the City has done a great deal of preparation to ensure its cost estimates are as accurate as possible, putting the project in a favourable position to receive significant grant support. Another major consideration for the City is the imminent closure of the Centennial Civic Centre, which, according to a 2019 structural assessment, could be rendered unfit for public use before 2025. To date, the City has had several promising conversations with higher levels of government regarding funding for the project and hopes to receive confirmation in early 2023. Construction will not proceed until official confirmation has been received. | ||
| Why doesn’t the City build on to Servus Sports Centre instead of building this new facility? | ||
| During the design of Servus Sports Centre (formerly Commonwealth Centre), there were informal discussions about the potential to add onto the facility; however, no formal construction plans were drawn. Today, significant expansion of the Servus Sports Centre is constrained by access for increased vehicle traffic, and other many logistical considerations. In choosing a location for Cenovus Energy Hub, the City also recognized significant economic and social value in allocating major recreation sites into other areas of the community. | ||
| Why does the proposed design include gender-neutral restrooms? | ||
| Through mid 2022, the City met with several stakeholder organizations and conducted a public survey to the entire Lloydminster community. Through these engagement exercises, a significant number of participants emphasized the need for washrooms and dressing rooms to be inclusive and comfortable for people of all needs. In the floorplan presented to City Council on October 21, 2022 the proposed washroom plan included men's, women's, Inclusive and Individual (barrier-free) options. Some of those washrooms – but not all – included a limited number of floor-to-ceiling stalls. Men's and women's washrooms will still have traditional stalls, urinals, etc. The addition of gender-neutral restrooms also offers the advantage of flexibility to meet demand, as they may be re-designated as needed during special events. | ||
| Will Cenovus Energy Hub negatively impact the Vic Juba Community Theatre as a live-entertainment venue? | ||
| Absolutely not. In fact, the Cenovus Energy Hub presents exciting partnership opportunities for organizations like the Vic Juba Community Theatre, which has seating capacity for about 550. Adding a 2,500-seat venue like Cenovus Energy Hub (expandable 4,000 with floor seats) brings new opportunity for our community to attract more stadium-friendly ‘Class B’ acts that may not previously have considered Lloydminster as a stopping point. Furthermore, staff members of the Vic Juba have been engaged throughout the development of the building concept. | ||
| Why has this project been prioritized over other potential needs, such as a new indoor pool, enhanced park spaces, public transit, etc? | ||
| Our community is one of diverse needs, passions, and interests, and as such, there will always be differing opinions on what the next big infrastructure investment should be. Should the Centennial Civic Centre and the Archie Miller Arena become unusable without new indoor ice facilities to take their place, there will be a major shortfall in local ice surfaces, meaning opportunity for people to figure skate, recreational skate, and play hockey will be significantly diminished. It would also put Lloydminster’s premier hockey clubs in jeopardy and hinder the community’s ability to host and attract special events and entertainment acts. Other investments – including a new indoor pool – are part of the City’s long-term capital considerations. | ||
| Will Cenovus Energy Hub be a profitable venture? | ||
| While there is tremendous potential to generate revenue to help offset operational costs, the reality is that virtually all public facilities – including rec centres, public pools, and cultural facilities – operate at a deficit. Cenovus Energy Hub’s proposed operating model was built with support from a consultant specializing in event centre operations, as well as considering or existing operating data and the resources the City has at its disposal for special event operations. The intrinsic value in buildings like Cenovus Energy Hub is in how they serve as community gathering points, the role they play in the development of youth, and the overall economic impact they have in drawing people into the community. The social benefits are often the most difficult to measure, however, on the economic side, the data tells us that each visitor that comes to Lloydminster for a sporting or entertainment event spend approximately $115 per visitor per day in hotels, restaurants, and local stores. With an estimated annual visitation of 170,000, Cenovus Energy Hub is sure to be a productive economic asset for decades to come. | ||
| How has the City engaged the community on project decisions? | ||
| The investment in Cenovus Energy Hub represents one of the most significant in the City of Lloydminster’s history, and as such, the community engagement strategy for this project had to be scaled to meet strong public interest. In addition to establishing a dedicated project website and conducting two community-wide surveys, since 2021, the City has hosted more than 10 in-person engagement opportunities and sought input from more than 50 regional stakeholders, including user groups, local governments, and non-profit organizations. | ||
| Will the body of water shown in the Cenovus Energy Hub site plan be used for swimming or boating? | ||
|
No. The stormwater retention pond shown in the Cenovus Energy Hub site plan cannot be used for swimming, watercraft or skating. The retention pond is required as part of the city-wide stormwater system. Known as Lake K, it was slated for expansion before the site was selected for the new facility. Once the site was selected, the City of Lloydminster prioritized seamless integration and connectivity between the facility and the pond, further enhancing the site's beautification. Long-term, the project will incorporate walking trails and other natural elements surrounding the stormwater pond.
|