What to do about the Civic?

Photo: Kate Bouey

What do do about the aging Civic arena once it is decommissioned is near the top of Vernon city council's list of priorities over the next two years.

Council held a special committee-of-the-whole meeting at the Lakers' clubhouse Thursday.

“It was a good review of where we are and what we need to do to hit our targets by 2018,” said Tanya Laing Gahr, city spokesperson.

City staff have babied the ice plant at the Civic, hoping it will last until the new arena is built at Kal Tire Place. It is expected to open in the fall of 2018.

Mayor Akbal Mund said last December that he would like the Civic building to remain standing and used for something else once its days as an ice sheet come to an end.

Recreation staff have pointed to the cracked floor, broken toilets and other issues.

As well, exterior wall cracks were identified in a 2014 engineering report. When the walls were opened, water was found to have damaged the concrete foundations.

Laing Gahr said other council priorities over the last half of the current term include:

• increased focus on lakeshore lots
• exploring the possibility of an events and promotions planner for the City (similar to what Kelowna has)
• improved visitor information centre signage, landscaping and lease space
• upgrades to the north and south entrance to Vernon in terms of visual impact
• reviewing staff resources necessary to meet council’s strategic goals.

No decisions were made at the meeting.

“This is a midterm review of those objectives and what the current status is of them,” said Laing Gahr.

“It's an aggressive and ambitious course of action for the city, so reviewing where we are and what will be necessary in the next two years to reach all of the goals is part of keeping us all on track.”