The Matsqui Recreation Centre is getting a new waterslide, but it won’t come cheaply.
Buying and installing a new waterslide will cost the city $700,000. The slide itself will cost about $200,000, with construction costs accounting for the rest.
Last week, council unanimously approved the $500,000 budget for the construction portion of the project – including the removal of the old slide and maintenance of stairs and foundation.
The new piece of equipment is called a “Giant Aquatube” bodyslide.
The city went through a standard bidding procurement process to select the company to manage the project’s construction, but bought the slide directly from Vancouver-based company Whitewater West without taking bids from vendors.
Instead, it posted a notice on the BC Bid site earlier this month saying it “chose to contract with Whitewater West, because provision of waterslides within North America is limited.”
The notice continued: “WhiteWater was the original supplier of the waterslide at MRC. Given the risk, reliability and timing of this project, they have the technical capability to design the system and the experience having designed the MRC slide and others to best facilitate the replacement of the slide within the approved budget and timelines. The have also completed repairs and maintenance on our existing slide and are familiar with the facility.”
The same notice suggests walls of half the slide may be translucent.
Council didn’t ask staff any questions about the slide when the issue came before them Monday. The News requested to speak to a parks official about the project, but a spokesperson instead sent an email that said: “The cost of the project is inclusive of all work required for the removal of the old slide, as well as the installation costs of the new slide. This includes structural, plumbing and electrical work.
“The city received a number of proposals for the slide replacement and issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the installation and construction work. Projects of this nature are unique to each facility and the city awarded the RFP based on prioritization of quality and cost.”
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