July 27, 2011
Town faces costly
arena upgrades
by Vance Gutzman
A recommendation to spend more than $300,000 on capital upgrades to the
Deep River Arena has been put on ice, for the time being, by town
council.
Council tabled a resolution last week which, had it been approved,
would have initiated the tendering process to address fire safety
deficiencies at the arena.
Those deficiencies were identified following the release, this past
February, of a review of the town's fire protection services by the
Ontario Fire Marshal's office (OFM).
That lengthy review, which was initiated by the OFM as a result of
concerns stemming from its investigation into a fatal fire last fall,
contained 11 recommendations - one of which was for the Deep River Fire
Service to initiate an inspection program of all higher risk
occupancies in the municipality.
In making that recommendation, the OFM noted that a spot audit it
conducted with the fire department of four such buildings, including
the arena, found they were not in compliance with the Ontario Fire Code.
The town and its fire service acted quickly upon that, and other
recommendations contained in the OFM's review, and all 17 such "high
risk" occupancies had been thoroughly inspected less than two months
after the review was issued.
The town also hired a building and inspections consultant to inspect
the town's own high-occupancy buildings, including the arena.
Subsequent to that, the deficiencies identified in the consultant's
report were reviewed by two contractors, who then provided the
municipality with a list of the work required to address them.
The contractors, whose names are not mentioned in an issue report
issued by the town's chief building official, Robert Labre, also
provided cost estimates for the work.
The list of the work contained in Labre's issue report is expansive and
the cost estimates are expensive.
Retrofit upgrades alone are estimated at $160,000, and would include
such things as installing new laminate fire-rated drywall over the
existing wood-panelling in the lower viewing area.
The second major bit of work that needs to be done, according to
Labre's report, involves installing a sprinkler system in the building
- a dry sprinkler system for the unheated area and wet system to
protect the heated areas.
In a wet sprinkler system, a network of pipes is filled with water.
When the system goes off, water is released from several sprinklers in
an effort to douse any nearby flames. In a dry sprinkler system, the
pipes are filled with air instead of water. When the system goes off,
water quickly pours first into the pipes, and then out of the
sprinklers.
The cost of installing the two types of sprinkler systems is estimated
at $145,000.
"This building was built in the 1970s," Labre told town council last
week.
"It's a wooden structure and a high-risk fire hazard."
Labre also gave council two options - perform the necessary upgrades,
or take no action whatsoever.
And while the cost estimates gave some council members a case of
sticker shock, the timelines for completing the work were also on their
minds.
"Can we not open the arena in September," Councillor Terry Myers asked
Labre, who, in turn, was able to throw a little sun at the rain.
While the total scope of the work might take two months to complete,
Labre said the Fire Marshal's office might cut the town some slack if
it sees the work has at least been started.
"If they see you are improving safety, they will definitely give you
more time," Labre said.
And the town is fortunate, Labre added, in that the water main at the
arena is capable of accepting a sprinkler system with the costly
addition of a booster pump.
"At $305,000 I don't feel so fortunate," Mayor David Thompson said with
a glum look on his face.
Although the resolution was tabled last week, the recommendations
outlined in Labre's report will be discussed in greater detail between
the chief building official and new fire chief Gene Thompson, as well
as a representative from the OFM.
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