Kimberley City Council has approved a budget adjustment for the new Gymnastics Club building to help pay for safety features and unexpected costs.
City officials said the budget was boosted by $36,172.83 to cover unanticipated geotechnical work ($10,572.83).
“We had a couple of items come to council that were unforeseen expenditures,” said Mayor Don McCormick. “One was around geotech, having to do with the land, some dirt that had to be removed from a contamination point of view.”
Another portion of the money, $25,600, will go to install a fire alarm system.
“The building code does not require a fire alarm to be in a public building of that size,” said McCormick. “We felt it was prudent, especially given the demise of the previous building, that we make sure we have all the warning systems in place to protect the $1.2 million investment we’ve made into this.”
The original Gymnastics Club building was lost to arson on Dec.14, 2021.
McCormick said the loss was felt throughout the community.
“Families that had kids in gymnastics have adjusted to the fact that we don’t have a facility, but the fact that they’ve adjusted doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been a huge burden for those families,” said McCormick.
“Getting this back is going to be huge for these kids,” said McCormick. “We also had the Gyminy Cricket Daycare that has not been in place and I think it looked after 35 or 40 kids. This has had a big impact on the community and we’re really looking forward to the new building opening soon.”
McCormick said work on the building will likely be wrapped up in early 2024.
“Anyone who’s been down Warren Avenue can see that it’s really coming along,” said McCormick. “We’re expecting it to be completed in February.”
City officials said the budget adjustment raised the anticipated cost of the building from $1,226,669 to $1,262,841.83.