Surrey city council awarded a $3.5 million contract to Novacom Building Partners on Monday night, for the construction of the Cloverdale Athletic Park field house and parking lot.
Novacom had the least expensive bid out of the four contractors that provided estimates. Previously, the company has done “satisfactory” work for the city including the renovation of Beecher Place in Crescent Beach, according to a city report.
A total of $3,573,320.10 was approved for the construction of the project. Of that total, Surrey United Soccer provided $225,000 and the federal government provided $1,681,274.
The field house comes as part of a $5.8-million project that has been in the works for two years. The project, jointly funded between the federal government, the City of Surrey and Surrey United Soccer, also included the installation of new artificial turf playing fields and a renovation to the water park.
Work on the new field house was originally expected to begin in spring of 2018, but it was delayed during the design process. The main floor will include change rooms, washrooms and a community room. The second floor will be a dedicated space for Surrey United Soccer, and will also have limited-access meeting spaces.
The two-storey building will look like a red barn, according to the original proposal. It was designed “to have an agricultural look” and will be clad in red corrugated steel.
The colour drew council’s attention when the design was first presented in November 2018, with Mayor Doug MacCallum asking “Is that the real colour it’s going to be?” to laughter from the chamber.
- SEE MORE: ‘Is that the real colour?’: Council approves Cloverdale field house design after initial hesitation
Before the vote to approve the construction contract on Monday night (April 1), Councillor Steven Pettigrew again asked about the colour. “I never did hear the final colour of the field house,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone really wants to answer that,” joked Mayor Doug McCallum.
Laurie Cavan, Surrey’s general manager of parks, recreation and culture, assured city council that staff received and reviewed the feedback from council and “balanced” it with the stakeholders that were “in favour of the initial colour.”
“And in discussion with senior staff, we tempered the colour so that it’s less vibrant than what was originally revealed a number of months ago,” Cavan explained.
“We’ve tempered it a bit but it still is a red-ish colour that aligns with the sports groups and meets some of the needs that they wanted for their younger athletes playing in the park.”
—with files from Amy Reid
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