YARMOUTH, N.S. – When it comes to the Mariners Centre in Yarmouth, most of the discussion of late has centred around a proposed expansion and if or when it will ever come to fruition.
But aside from an expansion there are other capital projects that have been identified. These were discussed at a June 27 committee of the whole meeting by Yarmouth town council.
The Mariners Centre with its owners – the town and municipality of Yarmouth – has established a five-year capital projects plan to cost out what projects are it feels are required in the coming years and to set out a timeline as to when the work should take place.
For the 2018-2019 fiscal year, four projects have been identified:
1. Main entrance replace door system (Cost $26,500. This would be to install sliding automatic motion sensor doors.)
2. Replace/repair flat roof ($85,000)
3. LED light replacements (estimated cost $100,00)
4. Building operations system controls (cost $100,000)
A motion was passed at the town’s committee of the whole meeting to recommend to council that the town fund its share of all four of these projects. The town says it does have the money set aside to cover its cost of these projects.
More energy efficient lighting was installed in the main arena around the time of the World Junior A Challenge years ago, but they are not LED lights. It was stated the LED light replacement, involving both interior and exterior lights at the Mariners Centre, would start to result in savings for the facility in around four years as they would reduce the power bill by about $25,000 a year.
It was mentioned at the meeting that Municipality of Yarmouth has agreed to fund its share of projects #2 and 3 this fiscal year. It was asked by town councillors what happens to identified projects not funded this year and it was explained they would get pushed back to future years. Given this, the town said it hopes the Municipality of Yarmouth will consider funding its share of all four projects this year.
The Municipality of Argyle – which is not an owner but has a large percentage of the Mariners Centre users living in its municipality – will also be asked to provide funding as well.
Other future capital projects identified for the Mariners Centre include a heat recovery project for the 2019-2020 fiscal year that would cost $490,000 and would results in savings over the long term; an arena sound system upgrade at a cost of $10,500 in the 2020-2021 fiscal year and the purchase of 300 additional floor seats at a cost of $20,000 in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Some of the other identified capital projects to carry out in future years includes lawn tractor replacement, landscaping, security cameras, video camera replacement, wall display cabinetry, replacement of banquet tables and replace the dome building cover.
The total cost of 16 overall identified capital projects is $1,137,500.
