During council's monthly meeting last Monday, a contract was awarded to Services intégrés Lemay et associés, the consortium that completed the first phase, concept development, for $138,000. The engineering group's mandate for the $25 million project is taking place in five steps.
The current arena/pool complex was built in 1957 and has long been on a list of municipal buildings slated for renewal. According to a funding application made to the province by Westmount last year, the City had anticipated construction starting this spring, although the scenario changed following an extensive public consultation last April.
"At that time, although there were many enthusiastic ideas and comments, some of those who were there expressed concern that we had not brought any designs for participants to look at and discuss," said Mayor Karin Marks, referring to the focus group sessions held at Victoria Hall.
Marks said officials with the City concluded, after looking at all the possible sites in Westmount, that it would be impossible to move the arena/pool complex from its current location at the south-western end of Westmount Park, without removing considerable green space or adding enormous costs.
She said the City's design team was told during Phase One by the architects that "we could not have everything on the wish list, because some of it could not fit into the site and we were informed that the cost would significantly pass the budget we had discussed."
They talked about scaling down and diminishing the number of multi-purpose spaces (since there already are such rooms at Victoria Hall), decreasing some of the Teen Centre space, and having two ice rinks, of which only one would be NHL-size and the other slightly smaller. A proposed third floor was also discarded.
Although Phase One gave a better sense of what can be built and what it should cost, Marks said it didn't provide a building design "which we as a community can discuss and on which we can make a decision." She said Phase Two will fulfill that task, following which the City will be conducting a poll among residents to determine whether they want to proceed with the project.
The City will be presenting the design at public information sessions to be held in mid-April, where residents will be given a chance to question the architects on the details. At the same time, a comprehensive package will be sent out to all residents, with information about the design, costs, and impact on taxes, traffic and additional data on other options.
During question period, Victoria Avenue resident John Dorey asked how much of the more than $400,000 cost for the first two phases could go "down the drain" if Westmounters decide not to go ahead with the project. "I think we should know what the fallback in this issue is before you go ahead," he said. "Is any of that applicable to a reduced cost?"
"Oh, yes, absolutely, the four-hundred is spent, but going forward," said Councillor Patrick Martin, who is playing a leading role on the design team because of his extensive background in civil engineering.
"It would be applicable and it would depend on what the project is worth," insisted Marks.
Despite the City's efforts to consult residents, Henry Olders, a member of the Westmount Municipal Association, still finds fault with the level of transparency. "If there was a document that was produced by Phase One as a public document, then I think it would be useful for the citizens in Westmount to have access," he said.
"Give us the time to put together the information, so it is complete information, and then we will put it out to everybody so everybody has a chance to comment and question it at the same time," replied Marks.
Olders responded, "The assumption that we are not able to make public that information until it has been put together and made complete I think is diminishing the capacities of Westmount residents to understand and make use of partial information. I personally feel that's a putdown of our capacities."
