EA A Community Centre Project - former South Wellington School site

Work on the site and the facility continues. A new entrance and parking has been created off of South Wellington Road. Renovation work is underway on the interior and exterior of the facility.

During construction access to the playfield will be reduced to ensure site safety, but the sport court remains available for use. Please use caution when visiting the park.

South Wellington Community Park visitors are asked to use caution when accessing the park as there will be heavy equipment and trucks on site for the next few months. A section of the playfield will be fenced off; however, the sport court and southern portion of the field remain available to the public.

Heatherbrae Builders took control of the South Wellington Community Project site December 16. Over the next few weeks, a new entrance to the site will be created entering the property off Wellington Road near the northeast corner of the property.

The creation of the new roadway entrance and on-site parking will require the careful dismantling and storage of the existing playground equipment. This work will happen in early January 2025. After the current work is done, the new playground location will be determined with the community's input.

The project team has been busy working on the following:

• Key reviews of existing systems including the water system, sewer system, and utilities.
• A required traffic impact assessment (TIA), the outcome of which will inform site planning going forward.
• Drafting site plans which meet established bylaws.
• Confirming the details of both the electrical ( i.e. connection options, timelines for required parts) and mechanical upgrades (i.e. sprinkler system, heating/cooling).

Construction will commence later this spring. The scope of work will include:

• New roof with seismic and thermal upgrades
• Hazmat remediation
• Mechanical upgrades and improvements
• Electrical upgrades
• Site development for parking and access
• Accessibility upgrades
• Washroom upgrades to meet current codes
• New exterior doors

Please continue to follow this page for updates. RDN Recreation staff will be onsite at the SWACA May 11th Plant Sale and look forward to answering any project questions you may have related to the building renovation plans. Park development planning (i.e. the grounds around the building) will begin later in2024

At the regular meeting of the RDN Board on December 12 the following resolutions were made:

There has been much work done by both the Community and RDN towards the goal of getting the former South Wellington School re-opened as a community centre. The goal remains to use as much of the existing school "as is" and open as a community recreation centre as soon as possible.

Detailed reviews of the following critical facility operating systems are mostly complete. Much of this was evaluating the state of the building itself and systems to ensure current and future building safety and determining the current state of the facility itself and building systems.

1. Hazardous Material Assessment
2. Seismic
3. Underground Oil Storage Tank
4. Fire Alarm and Suppression Systems
5. Water and Septic Systems
6. Heating
7. Building Envelope (roof, exterior doors, windows, sidings)
8. Heating System

While the facility and its operating systems are in relatively good shape for their age, some challenges, with various degrees complexity and costs to repair, have been discovered. Some of these include:

1. Accessibility
2. Seismic
3. Building perimeter emergency access
4. Parking
5. Electrical system capacity
6. Building fire suppression
7. Washrooms

Some of the answers found in the building and system reviews still underway will help determine the possible options available to meet the project goal (use as much of the existing school "as is" and open as a community recreation centre as soon as possible).

Further and continued review from earlier findings seem to indicate that expensive and lengthy improvements required such as hazardous material abatement, fire suppression (sprinkler) system and electrical upgrades will not be as extensive and costly as once thought.

There are also many regulatory obligations the RDN must follow such as; building bylaw and code requirements, parking capacity and variance application, traffic impact assessment, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure land use agreement in place, and accessibility modifications that will take time to complete and gain approval for.

The RDN and South Wellington and Area Community Association (SWACA) have been working with towards creating an operating plan and agreement for the facility. The next planned meeting for SWACA representatives and the RDN will be in late in October, 2023.

We are pleased to announce that Iredale Architecture has been selected as the Prime Consultant for the EA A Community Centre project. The firm will provide architectural and engineering services for Phase 1 Stage 1 of the remediation and conversion of the former South Wellington School to a Community Recreation space.

Phase 1 Stage 1 will include the following work:

• A facility space audit and space needs analysis
• Provide recommendations by way of a Concept and Schematic design
• Establish a project schedule and assist in developing a cost estimate

The focus of this phase will prioritize bringing the building to a safe and occupiable state and will be mindful to account for any likely future changes and system upgrades to ensure integration is possible.

RC Strategies has been working with the South Wellington Area Community Association (SWACA) to develop an operating plan for the future community centre for the past few months. They will be hosting another planning session this month (March).

Ground maintenance and clean up at the site has been completed, including new signage. The grounds are now a part of the community park operations program.