AUC renovations progressing
Published Friday June 19th, 2009
B1
By BILL HUNT
hunt.bill@dailygleaner.com
Renovations to the Aitken University Centre are approximately two weeks ahead of schedule, says building and events manager Kim Norris, meaning the project is on target for a scheduled Sept. 1 reopening.
No ice in sight: The floor of the Aitken University Centre has been removed so a new concrete floor with new piping can be installed. Here, a worker stands in the middle of the dirt floor. Renovations are on target for a Sept. 1 reopening.
"So far, so good," Norris said. "That's all I can say without jinxing the program."
Norris believes project engineers picked up time because "we didn't have to cut out the cement (floor). They peeled it back just like a lasagna, with a backhoe."
Simpson Building Contractors will begin pouring the first layer of cement around the perimeter of the ice surface as soon as today.
Meanwhile, workers will be using discs to smooth the sand on the arena floor and begin digging trenches for the installation of the network of two-inch pipe - approximately five miles of it, said arena foreman Ken Carr - which will carry warm brine.
Then the sand has to be levelled again.
It's just like gardening," Norris said. "The surface has to be perfectly smooth. There can't be any wrinkles."
Once the sand is levelled, it will be covered by a layer of vapour barrier, a layer of insulation and another sheet of vapour barrier, to be followed by the pouring of a thin layer of cement. Then comes installation of the network of approximately 10 miles of piping to carry the cold brine. After that comes the pouring of the concrete floor.
"Everything's going well," Carr said. "So far, it's ahead of schedule. But the plumbers, the electricians ... they don't have to start until a certain date. So if they're on another job..."
"With a little luck, we should stay on course," Norris said.
He pronounced both he and Carr "very happy" with the progress on the project. So is UNB hockey coach Gardiner MacDougall, who, of course, has an interest in getting his team and his national championship hockey program back into the building quickly. The team's state-of-the-art weight room has been temporarily transplanted to a dressing room on the north side of the arena.
"I think Gardiner is pretty pleased, because he sees the progress," Norris said.
Norris is not concerned with the status of roof renovations.
"They're taking it from the rock down to the actual steel top," he said. "They're replacing the insulation and so on. But I'm not too worried about that. They can go right to the winter. As long as the metal is on, I don't care. I think they'll be done within the time frame they've asked for, as long as it doesn't rain five days a week."
The building, which also houses the offices of UNB athletic director Kevin Dickie and support staff and the box office on the main floor and the offices of marketing and promotions manager Dave Morell and others on the lower level, has been closed "one or two days" due to vibration and noise in the building when compactors were in use.
In those scenarios, staff has worked from home.
Norris said he'd like to begin making ice in the new facility Sept. 1, but there's a five-day grace period built in to accommodate events around the beginning of the school year.
Carr also hopes to bring in technicians who will conduct a seminar on ice maintenance for the Aitken Centre staff.
"It doesn't hurt to refresh everyone's memory on refrigeration," Carr said. "There are going to be some changes on our floor and in our plant room, so that will bring us up to date."
The ice system being replaced now was the original plant, in place when the building opened in 1976.
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Next move up to Acadian, says downtown landlord
Published Saturday June 20th, 2009
A6
By SHAWN BERRY
berry.shawn@dailygleaner.com
The ball is in Acadian Coach Lines' court, says a spokesman for the company that owns the bus terminal property in downtown Fredericton.
"We'll let them make their own decision," said Kevin Harris, properties manager for Saint John-based Commercial Properties Ltd.
The bus company has come under fire for a proposal to move its Fredericton terminal out of the downtown core and up to the corner of Woodside and Serenity lanes, off of Hanwell Road.
Acadian said it was pushed to look for another location after Commercial Properties told the firm it would have to leave its current location at 101 Regent St.
Manon Piche - an executive with Group Orleans Express, the company that owns Acadian - told The Daily Gleaner on Thursday the property owners have informed the bus company it no longer has to move its operations.
She said the company continues to explore the possibility of the move as it also tries to negotiate a better deal at the Regent Street location.
Harris said his company won't release details of what's going on.
"We don't want to negotiate in the media," he said.
The issue of relocating the bus station is bound to stir plenty of debate at Monday's city council meeting.
Councillors are to hear first and second readings Monday of an amendment to allow a bus service at 150 Woodside Lane. Third reading and a vote are to be held at a later date.
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