The talk about the new sports complex beside Okanagan College rests with a Vancouver firm.
Dialog has been named the prime consultant for the project, beating out three other finalists.
“Their proposal and the attention to our project best met the criteria in our proposal,” said Keith Pinkosky, parks planner for the Regional District of North Okanagan.
The RDNO’s request to borrow $7.5 million for the sports complex, which includes a new running track, was successfully passed in an April referendum.
On its website, Dialog describes its company as so: “From education and healthcare to office and residential, our commitment to doing great work, and enjoying the journey that comes along with it, helps create lasting success for all our clients. And in these environments of constant change we design balanced, beautiful responses that are never the same, but always make a difference.”
Now that the project manager has been selected, the next step is meeting with stakeholder groups.
“We’ll confer with some of the users on-site and come up with a firmer timeline for a detailed design process,” said Pinkosky.
The overall project manager will be Doug Wournell from Dialog.
Project managers were used for the Performing Arts Centre, Kal Tire Place and Vernon’s library.
The expectation is to move dirt in the fall to either pre-load the site or, depending on soil conditions, excavate and build up the sub-structure for the track.
The site is in the Agricultural Land Reserve and the terms of the Agricultural Land Commission agreeing to a non-farm use include construction being completed by November 2014.
