At a City Council meeting on Monday Prince Albert City Council has approved the tender to award the construction of the new Aquatic and Arenas Recreation Centre to Graham Construction.

Debate began over the project, that is expected to have a ground breaking this summer, due to inflationary costs impacting the build with bid prices coming in 35 per cent above the tender estimate for the facility. That forced council to take a different approach and revise the funding plan to accommodate a projected budget of $113.8 million.

The facility will be built with the same features as originally announced. On the aquatics side this includes an 8 lane 25 meter competitive pool, 200 spectator seats, combined leisure, splash and wave pool, lazy river; two water slides and whirlpool. On the arenas side this includes 2 NHL size 200ft x 85ft rinks, seating for 366 in one rink and 608 in the other rink, player dressing rooms totaling 6,720 square feet and referee dressing rooms totaling 800 square feet.

The City of Prince Albert says the revised plan will mean there is no increase to property taxes to fund the new facility. This will be achieved by reducing the build costs by $7 million by modifying non-functional elements; increasing borrowing by $30 million for a total borrowing of $46 million; securing $24 million in external dollars through provincial and federal funding and fundraising initiatives; and annual financing payments through the Civic Facilities Reserve and targeting property tax revenues from the Yard Development.

The facility is scheduled to open in 2024.