Council to discuss city buildings report

Over the next decade, a handful of city buildings will need about $12 million in investment, according to a new consultant's report up for discussion at tonight's city council meeting.

The Four Seasons Pool, Firehall No. 2 (Ospika), Coliseum, the Bob Harkins branch of the Prince George Public Library, Aquatic Centre, City Hall and Elksentre were inspected in February as part of the municipality's work to detail what priority projects are coming up.

A 2013 city estimate pegged those seven buildings as having a $36-million investment backlog and "facility condition inspection is the next step to advance our knowledge of our facilities," said a report to council from general manager of engineering and public works Frank Blues.

In addition to the inspections, the work by Tetra Tech EBA also helped draft a framework the city can use going forward to help prioritize infrastructure projects competing for funding. The city has an inventory of 55 facilities (this includes parking structures) that are ultimately supposed to benefit from this work.

For example, in the 21-year-old Civic Centre a number of things such as HVAC system, hardwood floors, retractable doors and air conditioning and refrigeration systems in the full-service kitchen are coming to the end of their expected service life.

"This presents a challenge to management to prioritize expenditures as all these assets are coming up for replacement at the same time, while existing service levels related to the comfort of clientele or new services such as Wi-Fi and other IT needs are being met," said the consultant's report.

Each of the buildings was scored using a rating system based on their condition, with the Four Seasons Pool and Coliseum getting the lowest ranking.

However due to the time of year the inspections were done, the condition of the roofs weren't taken into account.

This "in all probability make the BCI (building condition index, which measures the condition of building as a whole) look better than it actually is, especially for the Four Seasons Pool and the Coliseum that are already in the amber range," said the consultant's report.