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City of Nanaimo proposes timeline for sports and entertainment centre

NANAIMO – The community could decide on a mega sports and entertainment project next year, a city timeline shows.
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An artist’s rendering of what a sports and entertainment multiplex might look like at the Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel site at the corner of Terminal Avenue and Comox Road.

An electoral approval process could happen next year for a sports and entertainment centre, a proposed  timeline from the City of Nanaimo shows.

The city revealed a proposed timeline for the project – should it go ahead – in a recent press release for public consultation on the sports and entertainment centre.

The City of Nanaimo is engaged in a public consultation process about the proposed centre, with website and phone surveys and public open houses. Consultants Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects are also working on a second phase that involves formalized meetings with the Western Hockey League and a more detailed technical review of the top two locations for the centre.

A report will go to council Monday (Dec. 19), which includes information from BBB Architects and public consultation.

The timeline shows staff will give council recommendations based on findings from the feasibility assessment, and if council chooses, the city could move to a third phase, from January to March next year, which includes further public engagement about residents’ position on facility programming, design and financing options, detailed design and legal agreements.

A fourth phase happening around the same time, from February to March 2017, would communicate the project’s financing framework, and there would be a referendum or alternative approval process.

Construction of the building would happen between July 2017 and July 2019 with the projected opening day in September 2019.

To see the proposed timeline, please visit goo.gl/QUm47p.